Eight-player high school football is growing in Wisconsin. Here’s how it works

Since the WIAA membership reinstated eight-player football in Wisconsin in 2012, participation has quadrupled, going from 16 teams that first year to 66 in the 2024 season.

The reduced-player game is mostly an option for smaller schools, allowing them to continue to play, and often be more competitive, while maintaining their identity by not becoming part of a co-op program or dropping football altogether.

Here’s a look at the game:

What is eight-player high school football?

The game is, as its name indicates, played with three fewer players per side than traditional football, a tweak that allows programs that otherwise might not have enough players to still compete.

An offense is limited to three interior lineman and has one fewer eligible receiver. Defenses operate with one fewer level of secondary.

Reduced-player football dates to the Great Depression, with the six-man game beginning in Nebraska in 1934.

Is a standard field used for eight-player football?

National rules call for a field 80 yards long instead of 100 and 140 feet wide rather than 160, but the WIAA permits an exception.

So in Wisconsin, 100 yards is considered the standard length – that avoids schools needing to move goal posts if they change from eight- to 11-player or vice versa – while fields are narrowed by 20 feet. A few Wisconsin teams do play on 80-yard fields, said Chad Schultz, an assistant director for the WIAA who oversees eight-player football.

When did eight-player football begin in Wisconsin?

Reduced-player football became an option for Wisconsin high schools in 1937 with a six-player version, and eight-player came along in shortly thereafter.

How many eight-player high school football teams are there in Wisconsin?

Sixty-six programs are fielding eight-player teams in the 2024 season, and 50 of those teams are playoff eligible, according to the WIAA.

Those 16 teams ineligible for the playoffs may exceed enrollment caps or may initially have committed to 11-player football for 2024-25.

Before World War II, there were as many as 90 schools taking part in Wisconsin’s six- or eight-player options.

The WIAA didn’t sanction reduced-player football once the modern playoff system came to be in 1976 but reinstated the sport in 2012, when 16 teams took part.

Why do some Wisconsin schools opt for eight-player football?

When short on numbers, schools can face the choice of forming co-op programs with others schools, moving to the eight-player game or dropping the sport altogether, coaches and administrators say. With eight-player, the program maintains its school identity and has a greater opportunity to be competitive, which in turn tends to increase interest and participation.

Decreasing overall enrollment and additional extracurricular offerings for students that have cut into football participation are the general reasons offered as to why programs have made the change from 11-player football.

South Shore, a school that sits along Lake Superior in Port Wing with 68 students, is the smallest school to play a game this season. Cambria-Friesland with 113 is the smallest to compete in 11-player, and Middleton with 2,388 is the largest.

Is eight-player football an option for large WIAA member high schools?

Although only teams with a three-year enrollment average of 200 or fewer are eligible for the playoffs, larger schools can play.

One example: Wausau East has had about 1,000 students, but coming out of the COVID-19-affected 2020 season was left with few juniors and seniors in its football program, so it took part in eight-player in 2021. The team went 1-5.

Which Wisconsin high school has won the most eight-player football championships?

Newman Catholic of Wausau has won two championships (2021, 2022) since the playoffs began in 2018. Newman and Luck are the only programs to have played in three championship games.

Which Wisconsin high schools have qualified for the eight-player football playoffs most?

Two-time champion Newman Catholic, defending-champion Florence, Northwood/Solon Springs and Oakfield all have made the playoffs five times.

Gibraltar, Chippewa Falls McDonell Catholic, Shell Lake and Wabeno/Laona have qualified four times.