Hanke explained that only 14 players (freshmen through seniors) are on the team. This can make it hard to compete against teams with four or five times the roster. "We waited until the last minute because we wanted to see how many kids would come out for football," he said.

Stockbridge has considered sponsoring boy's soccer in the Fall, but Hanke said that so much money has been invested in foot- ball equiptment and lights on the field that they opted to give the 8-man game a try.

The field for 8-man football is 80 yards long and 40 yards wide. According to Hanke, in 8-man football there are five persons on the line when the ball is snapped. Some coached go without tackles and a receiver or use other combinations to reduce the line to five. With the loss of Stockbridge the Central Lakeshore conference is left with just seven football teams. CLC commissioner Denny Semph said Thursday an athletic directors meeting scheduled for Sept. 15th will address what to do with the Stockbridge situation. Likely, he said, each team will receive a forfeit victory for this year. Semph
also said there will likely be just the seven football teams in the CLC for the 2011 season, but adding an eighth member for 2012 is a possibility. Right now, there are seven CLC football teams and, after Stockbridge leaves, nine schools in most other sports. Those odd numbers make for odd scheduling.

Stockbridge opened their season on Friday September 3rd against Madison Abundant Life at home and are hoping to schedule at least six 8-man football games for the season.

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