Six-man football returns to Central Montana

Last year, the schools of Grass Range, Winnett and Roy decided to move down to six-man football due to an insufficient number of boys playing the game. This year Denton and the new co-op of Roy and Winifred have joined the ranks of six-man football in Central Montana. With nine seniors on the 15-man roster for Stanford-Geyser, it looks as though they might be the next team to drop down to six-man.

As enrollment continues to drop in many of the schools in the rural areas, six-man football seems to be the last viable option for the schools who want to continue playing football. Six-man football is not really new for Denton, Winifred or Roy. All three schools have played it in the past. Winifred won the six-man state championship in 1991 and Denton won in 1990, after finishing second the three previous years. Denton returned to eight-man football in 1991.

According to the Montana High School Association, there are currently 28 teams playing six-man football, compared to 41 teams for eight-man.

by DOREEN HEINTZ
News-Argus Managing Editor

Full Story: http://www.lewistownnews.com/articles/2009/09/09/news/doc4aa81682eec06728987197.txt