North Dakota Preps

I'd like to see ND 9-man go to the narrower field, as they have in MN. Yes, it probably wouldn't have quite as much excitement, but it seems that so many games during the season are total blowouts in 9-man. With such a wide-open field, whichever team has that one (or maybe two) exceptionally quick player totally dominates the game. There might be excitement in a 56-48 game, but not in a 60-0 game. Also, a smaller field might make it a little easier on fatigue for those teams that have a hard time fielding enough players to bring in off the bench.

Has NDHSAA contemplated this move?

Just would like to bump this topic.

Its hard to narrow the field because of the constant movement of teams from A to 9-man. I think that's why it hasn't been thought of doing in ND. It would make things more interesting if it was narrowed

Run4Fun2009 wrote:Just would like to bump this topic.

Its hard to narrow the field because of the constant movement of teams from A to 9-man. I think that's why it hasn't been thought of doing in ND. It would make things more interesting if it was narrowed

Just need to move the side chalk lines and field markers in. Shouldn't be a big deal. Or are you saying because of the adjustment to it from one to the other?

I think a lot of the reason for high scoring is poor tackling. You see lots of "huggers" on the field now-a-days. When I played (many years ago), 3 touchdowns won most games. I believe that was due to solid low tackles.

So if scoring has gotten higher over the years, is that due to players getting quicker on offense, or poor tackling on defense?

Sleepy wrote:I think a lot of the reason for high scoring is poor tackling. You see lots of "huggers" on the field now-a-days. When I played (many years ago), 3 touchdowns won most games. I believe that was due to solid low tackles.

So if scoring has gotten higher over the years, is that due to players getting quicker on offense, or poor tackling on defense?

well in many games...all you need is someone with speed that can get to the outside and then they are gone. Poor defense does play a role.

The 8 man game in MT is played on a smaller field (80x40 yards) and is a much more physical brand of football then we see with the 9 man game in ND. Eight man football and 9 man in Minnesota (on a narrower field) are much more like the 11 man game because of the narrow boundaries. People might not like this comment but, ND's 9 man game is more like the 6 man game than anything else. Very wide open with a lot of offense and scoring. Coaches today have been using more spread offenses to get athletes the ball in space to take advantage of the wide field. One benefit of the wide field is that there areless hard hits, which should reduce the risk of head injuries.