11-man meets 6-man in a Texas numbers game

By John Henry

Special to the Star-Telegram

The ultimate contrast in styles will take place Friday night in small-town Texas.

Windthorst High School, a Class A 11-man football team, will host six-man school Throckmorton at 7 p.m.

The teams will play 11-man for the first half and six-man in the second.

"It's been pretty tough [preparing]," said Chris Tackett, Windthorst's coach. "We've talked to some other six-man coaches around, and the Throckmorton coach has been very helpful in helping us get lined up right, the rules and all we need to do."

Both schools play in five-team districts. Tackett said the game came about after both had trouble filling out their schedules without "driving three hours to do it."

Six-man is played on a field 80 yards long by 40 yards wide as opposed to 100 yards and 531/3 yards. Teams must advance the ball 15 yards instead of the 11-man standard 10 for a first down.

Three linemen must be on the line of scrimmage, but all six players are eligible receivers.

The quarterback is not allowed to advance the ball past the line of scrimmage, though he becomes an eligible receiver if he tosses or laterals the ball to a teammate.

Field goals are worth four points, a kicked point-after attempt after a touchdown is worth two points and a run or pass point-after is one point.

"We have tried to scheme as best we can," Tackett said. "When it's all said and done, it's blocking and tackling with a few less people."

Officials will "re-chalk" the field at halftime, and portable goal posts will be moved in to accommodate six-man dimensions.

Windthorst, with a school of 163 students, is about a 1-hour, 50-minute drive northwest of Fort Worth off U.S. 281. The Trojans play in District 3-A with Archer City, Olney, Quanah and Seymour.

Throckmorton, with an enrollment of 60, is about 60 miles southwest of Windthorst. The Greyhounds play in District 8 Six-man with Bryson, Crowell, Knox City and Paint Creek.

The game could be the first of two between the schools.

"We're having fun with it," Tackett said. "We're going to look into seeing if we can fill our schedule next year, but if we can't we're in for another year."

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