Maranacook Community High football Coach Skip Bessey knows some of his team’s opponents have grumbled upon seeing his team. With 42 players, the Black Bears boast one of the largest rosters among Maine’s eight-man football teams.

“I get that, when we go on the field with 40 kids,” said Bessey, Maranacook’s first-year coach. “If I was going to have this team I have now for two or three years, I wouldn’t hesitate. I think we’d be successful in 11-man football.

“When they hired me, that was one of the questions they asked. But you need to be very apprehensive. You don’t want to bounce back and forth.”

With the start of the eight-man football playoffs this week, the sport nears the completion of its fourth full season and is on solid footing. The eight-man version of football was introduced to Maine as a way for smaller schools with dwindling enrollment and rosters to continue playing football, and for larger schools to rebuild programs that had fallen on hard times because of low participation.

This season, 28 schools participated in the eight-man football divisions, 12 in the Large School division (enrollment 375 students and up) and 16 in the Small School division. Since eight-man football was introduced to Maine in 2019 with 10 teams, 30 programs have participated.

Just one, Cheverus of Portland, has moved back to 11-man football. The Stags were an eight-man team for the 2021 season, with a roster of about 40 players. They ran roughshod over the Large School division, finishing undefeated and not allowing a point over their final five games. (Washington Academy of East Machias was set to play eight-man football in 2021 but dropped the program in the preseason because low turnout.)

“I didn’t have an issue with Cheverus,” Camden Hills Coach Chris Christie said. “If they had 100 players, they can only put eight on the field like we do.”

Participation in eight-man football across the state is up this season more than 8% from 2022, with 845 players statewide this fall. The increase includes 37 players at Brunswick, which is competing in eight-man for the first time this season. Fifteen of the 28 teams have seen increases in turnout this season, some dramatically. Mountain Valley of Rumford went from 22 players in 2022 to 35. Maranacook of Readfield went from 30 players to 42 and Waterville saw a jump from 27 to 36.

At Camden Hills, Christie has his largest roster since he became coach in 2020, with 44 players. That includes 15 freshmen. The Windjammers (7-0) enter the playoffs as the top seed in the Large School North Division. Christie said there has been no discussion of moving the program back to 11-man football, where it struggled for years. With 12 seniors graduating, Camden Hills is taking a wait-and-see approach with its participation numbers heading into next year.

“If we’re at a consistent level (of participation), then it’s a discussion. I look at my middle school team, and they have 14 or 15 players over two grades. So I’ll get seven or eight next year,” Christie said.

Christie echoes those at other programs that have participated in eight-man football at least three seasons and have rosters of more than 30 players this season. Most are in no hurry to move back to the 11-player game.

Coaches at just two of those schools, Mattanawcook Academy and Mountain Valley, expressed a desire to move their program back to 11-man football in the near future. Prior to seeing a decline in participation, both had strong football traditions. Mattanawcook was a regular contender in the Little Ten Conference, and Mountain Valley went to the Class B state championship game five times between 2004 and 2010, winning four state titles.

“We had 13 kids a couple years ago, but we built it up,” said Mattanawcook Coach Brad Bishop. “I have no complaints about eight-man football. For our community, we feel like 11-man is the way to go. We feel we can compete with those teams (in Class D North).”

Mountain Valley Coach Patrick Mooney said he’s been vocal in the community that a return to 11-man football should be the expectation, not a dream.

“I am hopeful we can maintain consistency with annual numbers north of 30. A lot of teams enter eight-man football and never return to their former status. We want to be among the first to successfully complete rehabilitation,” Mooney said.

“Eight-man, to my knowledge, was implemented as a final barrier for teams on the cusp of no longer existing. Unfortunately, I don’t think it is necessarily true to that purpose anymore. Programs appear to (head) down there with more frequency, which is unfair to the schools who truly need the format for what it is designed for.

“I would like to see a stronger push to discourage eight-man as a perceived path of least resistance for teams who may be focused on wins and losses instead of lack of participation.”

Winthrop Athletic Director Joel Stoneton, a member of the MPA Football Committee, said the panel leaves the decision to move to or from eight-man football to each individual school, as it knows the makeup of its roster better than anyone. Stoneton added he has not yet heard of any programs looking to go from 11-man football to eight-man next season.

For programs that feel they’re not ready to jump back to 11-man football despite increased participation, the biggest sticking point is stability. Greely is in just its second season as an eight-man program after spending four seasons as an 11-man co-op team with Falmouth. Even with 44 players in the program this fall, Coach Caleb King said the Rangers are looking for more growth before they consider moving back to 11-man football.

Waterville Coach Isaac LeBlanc said his team’s participation increased from 23 players in 2021 to 28 in 2022 to 36 this season, and he’s seen similar growth on many of the opponents the Purple Panthers face each season. Making the move back to 11-man football might be an option for Waterville, but not in the next couple of seasons.

“I believe it is an option at some point, however I also want to ensure stability and consistency in our enrollment.  We believe in eight-man football and (are) in no rush to make that transition,” said LeBlanc, whose Panthers reached the Large School state championship game each of the last two seasons.

“We were able to field a JV team in eight-man for the first time for a full season this fall.  That was a great step for our program and allowed for all our student-athletes to play in competitions that are skill-level appropriate, which keeps players coming back to play.”

At Morse, Coach Jason Darling is pleased with his team’s roster size, 36 players this season and last. He points out that with 16 seniors on this season’s roster, nearly half the team will be lost to graduation. Plus, 36 players is when the team is fully healthy, which two months into the season is rarely the case.

“It’s all about stacking classes,” Darling said. “I have one junior left (of seven players). The others are all out injured. You get to this point in the season, and you say thankfully we’re in eight-man.”

Mt. Ararat is one of the original 10 eight-man programs and won the inaugural state title in 2019. With 34 players this season, Coach Frank True feels 15-18 members of his team are ready for varsity football. To try to play 11-man football with that small a varsity roster would be inviting trouble, True said. He looks at the larger rosters in eight-man football this season as a success, not a sign of teams below their competitive level.

“I say eight-man is working for them. I’m happy for them,” True said.

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