Westminster Christian embarks on 8-man era
Westminster Christian is trying something new: eight-man football.
The 192-student private school located on Elgin's west side added traditional 11-man football in 2013 and enjoyed a successful five-year run. The fledgling program finished 6-4 each of the last three seasons, resulting in three playoff appearances.
However, the handwriting was on the wall last season when participation dipped to 19 players and a large contingent was set to graduate.
Faced with the prospect of not having enough players for 11-man football, Westminster athletic director Rick Palmer found an alternative in eight-man, which the IHSA agreed to categorize as an "emerging sport" after 40 Illinois schools responded to a survey saying they'd be interested in trying the format.
Eight-man football is played in 17 states, mostly in rural areas and small towns. The game is played on a field 40 yards wide compared to the standard 53.3 yards. The field is still 100 yards in length, though some states reduce it to 80 yards.
Offensively, each team plays with two fewer linemen and one less running back, wide receiver or tight end. Defensively, teams line up with three linemen and a combination of five linebackers and defensive backs.
Westminster Christian, which has 13 players participating this fall, originally had nine games scheduled against North Shore Country Day, Rockford Christian Life, Lake Forest Academy, Alden-Hebron and five Wisconsin schools.
However, North Shore Country Day and two Wisconsin schools were forced to drop off the schedule due to insufficient participation. Thus, Palmer has come to a tentative home-and-home agreement with Week 1 opponent Wisconsin Heights. Under that agreement Westminster would make a return trip to Mazomanie, Wis., located just west of Madison, on Sept. 29.
Though no playoff system exists for emerging sports, particularly one spread over two states, the six schools remaining in the new league will play a so-called "playoff" game on Oct. 27, Palmer said. The top two teams will face off in a mythical title game. There will also be third-place and fifth-place games.
The Warriors have a well-versed instructor to lead them into a new era. New head coach Mike Gross, who was part of John Davis' staff at Westminster's the last five seasons and previously coached on Dale Schabert's staff at South Elgin, is a master trainer for USA Football, which puts on clinics around the country.
Though eight-man football is new to Gross, he's done some homework. He spent hours on the phone with a man in Oklahoma who has coached eight-man football for 27 years.
"He explained the nuances to me, what works and so fourth," Gross said. "It was really enlightening. He said the game is like basketball on a football field, it's usually high-scoring and spacing is important. We've got some athletes, so it should be interesting."
Senior Sam Huguley is one key athlete. He will start at quarterback after waiting his turn the last two seasons behind graduated starter Tannor Park. Gross calls him "as smart as any of the quarterbacks I've worked with."
One of Huguley's top targets is senior Matthew Schulenberg, also a baseball player. The offensive line features Theoron Dorsey (6-0, 235), Caleb Janschek (5-10, 225) and senior Tyler Baker (5-9, 220).
How physical is this team? It's hard to say since no Warriors will do any hitting ahead of the Aug. 26 opening matinee against Wisconsin Heights.
"We can't afford to get a guy hurt in practice in a hitting drill," Gross said. "We don't need to hit. We need to teach how to be in the right spot at the right time and get two or three players there to bring him down. It's about who has the most speed and in my years here this is the fastest group of athletes we've had. That works for the game of eight-on-eight better."