Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Switch to 8 man leaves some teams scrambling
The move from 11-man football to 8 man for three Arkansas schools has put a wrench into the schedules of two conferences in Class 4A and Class 3A.
Subiaco Academy, which was part of the 4-4A Conference’s 2020 football season, is dropping down to 8-man football for the season along with Marshall and Rose Bud, both of whom were set to be in the 2-3A Conference.
The Arkansas Activities Association made 8-man football a club sport in 2018. Other Arkansas schools that play 8-man football include Augusta, Brinkley, Decatur, Episcopal Collegiate, Hermitage, Western Yell County and Woodlawn.
Coaches across the 4-4A and 2-3A conferences have been scrambling to fill the holes left by Subiaco Academy, Marshall and Rose Bud.
Ozark
Coach Jeremie Burns is searching all over Arkansas and in eastern Oklahoma trying to find a school that will play the Hillbillies in either Week 2 (Sept. 11) or Week 6 (Oct. 9).
“It’s definitely been tough,” Burns said.
Burns said he has talked to several schools, including Helena-West Helena and Melbourne, for a possible game.
Ozark’s nonconference schedule includes Clarksville in Zero Week (Aug. 28), Booneville
in Week 1 (Sept. 4) and Charleston in Week 3 (Sept. 18). The Hillbillies’ week six game was to have been played against Subiaco Academy.
For now, Burns is hoping that a solution will be found.
“I’ve gone onto the AAA board and looked at every opening that’s been posted,” Burns said. “We’re just kind of waiting.”
Dardanelle Coach Phil Vega said it’s been a struggle trying to find an opponent to fill Subiaco Academy’s spot in Week 7 (Oct. 16). Vega said he would prefer to be at home for that game in mid-October.
“It’s kind of a mess,” Vega said. “We’re trying to figure it out. You either have to drive three and a half hours or go without a game.”
“The Oct. 16 game was our homecoming game. Our administration was already making plans for that game. Then all of a sudden, it goes out the window.
“So, that plays a big role in trying to get a home game.”
Vega said he’s talked to at least six coaches across the state trying to get a game, including Salem’s Clay Wiggins and Mountain View’s Michael Gray. Salem and Mountain View are in the 2-3A Conference, which only has six teams with Marshall and Rose Bud not playing 11-man football this fall.
Other schools in the 4-4A include Dover, Lamar, Mena, Pottsville and Waldron.
Subiaco Academy decided to drop from 11-man to 8-man football Thursday. Vega and Burns both received text messages from one of Subiaco Academy’s assistant coaches, who said that the school had 20 players participating in football in the offseason.
Harding Academy Coach Neil Evans, who led the Wildcats to a Class 3A state championship last season, has had to deal with a less-than-full conference schedule before. Rose Bud didn’t play a full schedule in 2019 and couldn’t finish the 2016 and 2018 seasons because of low numbers.
For the 2020 season, Evans was able to find an opponent to fill Marshall’s spot in Week 4 (Sept. 25). The Wildcats will travel to Memphis Briarcrest, Evans said.
“They’re an outstanding opponent,” Evans said. “I was for it in that regard.”
However, Evans said he may leave the Wildcats’ Week 7 date Oct. 16 open, which was to have been against Rose Bud. While he would like to find an opponent, Evans also has considered having an open date to help his team recover and recuperate from possible injuries.
“I haven’t been able to find a replacement,” Evans said. “But it could prove to be valuable to have an open date.”
Harding Academy only has three home games for the 2020 season — Sept. 11 against Heber Springs, Oct. 9 against Riverview and Oct. 30 against Newport.
Riverview Coach Drake Widener finalized the Raiders’ schedule Monday, adding Lamar as a nonconference game Oct. 16. The Raiders will travel to Lamar, which wasn’t an issue for Widener.
“We’ll have 10 games still,” said Widener, who led the Raiders to a share of the 2-4A Conference championship in his first season at the Searcy school last season.
Riverview’s nonconference games along with Lamar are at Bauxite on Aug. 28, home vs. Central Arkansas Christian on Sept. 4, at Bald Knob on Sept. 11 and a home game against Blytheville on Sept. 18.
When Riverview was still in Class 4A last fall, Widener was already planning on having to go out and fill the Marshall and Rose Bud games for 2020 after hearing from several coaches that those schools were going to 8-man football.
“It’s been wild and crazy,” Widener said. “But we got ahead of it.”
Along with Harding Academy and Riverview, Salem, Mountain View, Newport and Melbourne make up the 2-3A.
The timing of Subiaco Academy’s move to 8-man hasn’t sat well with some coaches.
“It was shocking to say the least,” Vega said. “Now we have to try and figure this [the schedule] out.”
Widener wants teams to be declare their status for either 11-man or 8-man football earlier. The AAA’s deadline to declare for 8-man football for the 2020 season is June 1.
“Something has to be done,” Widener said. “2A is drying up. 3A is not that much different. In 4A, some teams have been at the mid-30s for a while.
“Steve Roberts [an associate executive director with the AAA] has asked us about participation numbers. So I think he saw this coming. I don’t know what the answer is. But in our conference, we lose two conference opponents. They need to either start declaring earlier or get fined if they do it later. It’s hard to tell a year in advance, but you should know what you look like.”
Evans said that this year’s scheduling difficulties has led him to think about the future of high school football in the state.
“You have two 3A schools that are going to 8-man,” Evans said. “What will this look like in five to 10 years?”