GUNNISON, Utah — It will be the first of its kind in the state of Utah, but is common practice in neighboring states and in many others across the country — 8 man football.
The Utah High School Activities Association decided to add the classification to its lineup this year, and this weekend the first ever 8-player state championship game will be held as Gunnison Valley High School will face off against Monticello at Southern Utah University on Saturday.
Friday morning in Gunnison, the cheerleaders, faculty and student body celebrated the football team and their program's first ever shot at a state title.
"I think this first year has definitely proven to be a success," said Gunnison Valley athletic director Rhett Jackson, who also represents Region 16 for the UHSAA which decided to allow for some of the state's smaller schools to compete in the new classification.
"We finally got 6 classifications in football, but even then, 1A football there’s such a discrepancy," explained Jackson. "The program is designed to help programs that have struggled in the past, to have some post season experience, to play some more football and give them opportunities that otherwise they wouldn’t have had."
Jackson said while it is brand new in Utah, 8-player football has been a tradition in other states in the intermountain west and across the country.
"The addition of 8-Player football to the [UHSAA] list of sanctioned championships has brought participation opportunities in high school football to a number of Utah communities that previously couldn't participate due to their community size," said the Utah High School Activities Association in a statement.
Jackson noted that in small schools, players have to go both ways, while larger classifications have enough students that they have a specialty, either playing offense, defense or special teams. Those players in bigger schools are not on the field like in small communities. So the 8-man game allows teams to play with three less players, which takes a little bit of that stress off players.
"I feel like this new division is giving the much smaller schools a more leveler playing field. Instead of just going out there and getting whooped, they’re going out there and actually competing," said Mark Hopkins, the father of a Gunnison Valley player.
As a senior, Tyrek Hopkins has been a driving force behind his school's success this season. His mom, Annette, said she has loved seeing him do so well, and grow as a leader on the team.
Meanwhile, head coach Patrick King says it's been exciting to help take this school to its first ever playoffs in the sport.
"We do this as a family and we're having a blast," he said.
King added that the new classification has been challenging to help teach his players, but worthwhile.
"Football is very tough. When you get under 25, 20 varsity players it’s not only difficult to perform, it can be very dangerous. So I think it’s pretty critical for the state to look at both school size, roster size and also competition level."
