Eight-man Football
Eight-man football is a variation of American Football, played primarily at a high school level in the United States, by schools that have smaller student enrollments. The sport has steadily gained popularity among small schools, and as of 2015, 1,561 schools play this format of football.
The rules of Eight-man football is pretty much the same as American Football, except for a few minor changes. The sport mainly differs in the type of offensive and defensive formations that teams use. Also in the eight-man format, teams generally skip special team plays due to lack of skilled players, and go for fourth downs and two point conversions.
Eight-man football is played on a rectangular field, 40 yards wide (unlike 53 1/3 yards full size field), and 80 or 100 yards in length. As evident from the name, each team has 8 active players on the field at any time. Points are scored in the form of touchdowns, field goals, extra point conversions, and safeties. Matches are played in four 15 minute quarters, and the team that scores the most points wins.
There are also a few professional leagues in the United States that play eight-man football, either indoors or outdoors on fields of varying lengths. There are also leagues in Israel and Ireland that play the Eight-man football format.
Similar Sports
- American Football - each team attempts to advance an oval ball down the field into the end zone by running or passing it.
- 9-Man Football — a modified version of American Football with nine players on each team, played mainly in US high schools that have small enrollments.
- Sprint Football (formerly lightweight football) - a USA varsity sport by lightweight players which emphasizes speed and agility.
Related Pages
- About football (general)
- Football Decoder — what is called football around the world?
- Complete list of sports
- The Encyclopedia of Sports
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