There’s little doubt about Westminster Christian’s desire to continue playing football despite dwindling numbers, and wide receiver Jason Yaccino is a good indication.
Fourth in last spring’s Class 1A 800 meters as a junior, Yaccino wants to play football so much that he practices each day after he has cross country practice.
“I run anywhere from like 4 to 7 miles, and then I go practice football,” Yaccino said. “It’s tiring.
“I fall asleep very quickly at night. It’s a lot of work, but a lot of fun.”
Westminster has others committed to football like Yaccino, but not enough for a full team.
So the answer this year was turning to eight-man football, a game growing in popularity as participation numbers have declined at many schools.
Westminster received its official initiation to the eight-man game Saturday in a 44-16 loss to Wisconsin Heights.
There was no lack of heart by the Warriors, just a lack of players.
“I’m really proud of these guys,” Westminster Christian first-year coach Mike Gross said. “Two weeks ago we were wondering if we were actually going to have enough guys to play.
“Then we got some multisport athletes who came out, Jason being one of them.”
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The sad irony for Westminster is it switched from 11-man football due to insufficient numbers, and now it’s even difficult to field enough for the eight-man game.
The Warriors dressed only 11 to Wisconsin Heights’ 20. Quarterback Sam Huguley left briefly due to illness, leaving Westminster with two available subs.
So it definitely helped having a few players who hadn’t initially been counted on but came out, like Yaccino and baseball player Matthew Schulenburg.
“My track coach wants me to stay in shape by running cross country,” Yaccino said. “But I also love football. I played in eighth grade and I’ve missed it. So it’s exciting to be back out here.”
Huguley threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Yaccino and a 31-yarder to Schulenburg after the Warriors trailed 44-0.
“Our problem is inexperience more than anything else,” Gross said.
One of the few experienced Warriors, Huguley finds the switch to eight men is minor.
Teams play with three linemen instead of five. There is one less back or no tight end. The field is still 100 yards long (plus the end zones), but at 40 yards wide it is 13 yards narrower.
Fans saw something very similar to normal Friday nights or Saturday afternoons.
“I like the eight-man format,” Westminster fan Eric Johns said. “It doesn’t throw off anything. It’s probably a little bit faster pace than you’d expect.”
Wisconsin Heights coach Jeff Supernaw said in two years of eight-man football he’s witnessed about all the same offensive and defensive approaches as in regular football.
“Protections are different,” Huguley said. “They had a four-man defensive line, so that makes it harder. You’ve got to pull your running back (to pass block). And also, with the field not as wide, it limits pass routes. You’ve only got so much room.
“You’re still blocking people, though. You’re still tackling and hitting.”
Westminster also found one of football’s great truths applies to eight men just like 11: Turnovers mean defeat.
“We had three turnovers in the first half and I think it really hurt us because we were moving the ball, but they ended up scoring after the turnovers,” Gross said.
Another constant is how success breeds optimism.
“Our two touchdowns gave us a confidence boost to help get ready for the next game,” Huguley said. “We saw we can score, and what we need to do going forward.”
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