Eight-man football comes to Dundee

DUNDEE--Eight-man football will become the new team size for varsity football in Dundee next fall.
Sheldon Gibson, Dundee's varsity football coach, said, "We are looking forward to our new format for the varsity team. Obviously, we love 11-man football, but with a limited number of students that are available to play we decided we wanted to play football in a little different format than to not play at all."
Gibson said Dundee is also partnering with Penn Yan to help share coaching duties and joining students to get enough players. Gibson said, "We will be partnering with Penn Yan for our modified football team (grades seven and eight) and also for our junior varsity football team (grades nine and 10). Dundee will host modified and Penn Yan will host the junior varsity team. Gibson said that means the host school will be the home team for that season and Dundee and Penn Yan players will travel to the host school for practice. Players will wear the uniform of the host school. Gibson said with the combined school players the 11-man team format will be utilized for both modified and junior varsity. Gibson commented, "Dundee's varsity will be the team with an eight-man format." Penn Van varsity will still have 11 players.
Gibson said eight-man football is actually quite common around the state especially with so many districts experiencing declining student enrollment. Gibson said, "Basically, for eight-man football offense, there are no tackle positions on the offensive line. Five players are typical with a center, two guards and two ends. The backfield has the quarterback and two backs. The ends and the backs are eligible to catch a pass." Gibson said Dundee utilized nine-man football back in the 1950s at the school. Gibson said, "Hey it's football, we are looking forward to having some fun with the new eight-man format. I think the parents and fans will enjoy a lot of the action the games will provide."