Nine-man football

The NY Times visits my old stompin' grounds (or close, anyway).

Nine-man football is the province of small towns in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. “It’s simple,” said Nic Thompson, the Storm’s defensive back coach. “Nine-man just doesn’t have tackles.”

In Minnesota, it began in the mid-1960s after teams evolved from six- and eight-man football. Now, with 81 teams, it represents the state’s largest class. To qualify, high schools need to have fewer than 165 students. Stephen/Argyle Central has 111, 68 of whom are boys.

The article discusses how life has changed on the prairie on and off the football field. My town was not that small, and our football team had tackles. Even so, parts of the article sounded familiar. Read the article and catch a glimpse of the small town experience.