Sportsbeat Quick lesson on the eight-man game

Tomorrow will be the first opportunity for area football fans to see an eight-man football game in Posen. The first suggestion I have for curious football fans is go to the game against Brimley and don?t count the players on the field. If you don?t count the players, there?s not much of a noticeable difference. There?s still blocking, running and tackling. Once the novelty wears off it?ll all be about Posen winning a football game. The eight-man game has the potential to be real exciting, with lots of scoring and big plays. For example, in Posen?s first game, there were three special teams touchdowns in the first quarter alone.

There was a glimpse of how potent the game can be with a contest last week between Akron-Fairgrove and Ann Arbor Eastern Washtenaw Multicultural (AAEWM), who Posen plays twice this season. The final score was 64-62 with AAEWM winning the shootout. Posen has the skilled players capable of putting up some high point totals, but that wasn?t the case in week one against a quicker, more experienced Cedarville squad, who is now 2-0. Fans could see the true potential and potenency of the Viking offense Friday night against Brimley.

Although there are many detractors, who don?t believe the new format is real football and just exhibitions. It not only is needed to keep Friday Night Lights burning bright in small towns, but it could be the wave of the future. That said, here?s a little lesson on the eight-man game for folks who still have a lot of questions. ON OFFENSE, one of the major differences is five players need to be set on the line of scrimmage, as opposed to seven in the traditional 11-man game. Karsten said two tackles and an eligible receiver have been eliminated. Posen has a center and two guards as interior linemen and four wideouts in their spread formation, leaving only the quarterback in the backfield at times.

But here?s an interesting twist, if one of Posen?s guards is a set lineman at the end of the line, he is an eligible receiver and doesn?t have to wear a specific jersey number to be a receiver, as has been the case in the past, or report to an official. ?You can still run all of the basic football formation,? said Karsten. ?They say, in this game, your ideal quarterback is a point guard on the basketball team, which we have.? On defense, Posen will be running a three-three, two set.

The field is 40 yards wide and 100 yards long with 10 yards on each end for end zone areas

, although the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) will allow teams to play on 100-x-53 yard fields, as was the case in week one at Cedarville. The blocking zone is smaller, while penalty yardage remains unchanged. Other than those major differences, it?s the same game. Reading accounts of games in week one and two in other newspapers online and the word ?fun? comes up a lot from players involved. Karsten stressed that the eight-man game is not unique. He said Nebraska has 117 schools playing the game. The coach was amazed that Ohio has 12 teams with eight-man squads with rosters as large as 87.

If 20 or more teams show interest, the MHSAA will form a 16-team eight-man football playoff in 2010. The MHSAA must receive a letter no later than November 15, 2009 stating that schools intent to support/sponsor eight-player football in 2010. April 1, 2010 is the deadline for school district superintendents to submit a commitment letter for 2010 sponsorship of eight-player teams. More frequently asked questions are being answered on the MHSAA Web site.