Six Man vs Eleven Man

[Klaactu]

Let's say you wanted to take six players from an 11-Man team and have them play a 6-Man team.
Both teams may only have six players (unless adding a kicker) and must go both ways the entire game. All of the 11 Man team players are talented at their positions and have the ability to go both ways. Describe what 6 players you will pick from the 11 man team by position and why. Option: a kicker may be added (a 7th player) but that is all he/she may do. Usually in 6-man, the kicker is a starter.

I would pick 1. Quarterback 2. Halfback. 3. tight End .4 wide receiver 5. Middle linebacker 6. Free safety
I would not pick a 300 lb high school lineman from the standpoint of stamina and quickness.

 

[Eagle22]

I agree with all of your positions listed. I strongly believe that an 11 man offensive player would have a field day in a 6 man game. So many less bodies to navigate through, a lot more open field. On the contrary, a 6 man defensive player would dominate an 11 man defensive player. An 11 man defensive player would have absolute hell in the 6 man world. You don’t have 10 other guys helping you gang tackle. You are required to cover A LOT MORE GROUND. And you MUST BE a VERY skilled open-field tackler! At the end of the day, Defense wins the championships. Give me the 6 man player ALL DAY!!!

 

[Klaactu]

It would be interesting to do a pound for pound study of a 2A Championship team vs a 1A Championship team. Body fat, O2 intake, recovery time after a 100 yard dash etc. could be evaluated.. I bet the 1A players are in better shape.

 

[Texas6Man]

I agree the 6 man guys would be in far better shape. You very rarely see an 11 man player that plays every play from the first kickoff until the final buzzer. For what it’s worth, when I was in HS we had 8 players on our 6 man team my senior year. The 2 extras might have played 15 snaps the entire year. We offered to 4 different 11 man teams in the area to pick their 6 best and play us in a full 6 man game against our 6 starters and not one group of those other kids would take our offer. We weren’t all that great but we knew we could/would win just on conditioning alone. Matter of fact we decided to enter CC 2 days before the district meet and won it without any practice other than football. Lol I have always felt that a well conditioned 6 man group of 6 could beat many 11 man teams group of 6 in a 6 man game.

 

[oldergoat]

I think you need to be a little more specific on the match up. 2A schools would be pretty even on talent and conditioning might favor the 6 man school but the 2A schools have probably 4-6 guys going both ways for 48 minutes while a lot of 6-man go both ways 40 minutes or less. Start moving up to the 5A level and the talent level goes up a lot and would probably out do the conditioning. Thinking of a 5A that made playoffs past few years. This year they have 2 receivers and QB that were on the 4x100 and before Covid shut everything down had the fasted time in their district. The 4th was a Sr. last year but the kid replacing him is just as fast as the senior from last year. If speed "kills" there is not a 6-man team in the state of Texas that can match their speed. One of these guys has an offer from OU and at least 3 other D1 schools. The other also has some offers from smaller schools. My point is this. The larger schools have more talent at the skill positions than the 6-man schools. AS you move down in size then yes some 6-man teams could match up OK but they could not keep up with the larger school.

 

[51eleven]

This is apples to oranges. But, once you get to 3A and above most 11 man teams will have 6 athletes that can defeat Most 6 man teams, jmo. Coaching and experience would play a big part in any such confrontation.

 

[JasonTX]

Take a look at what happened a few years ago when a sixman team actually played an 11 man team. They played 11 man the first half and I believe it was 7 to 0. The second half that sixman team dominated.

 

[oldergoat]

Need a little context. What 6-man team and what 11-man team? What class was the 11 man team? These are factors that come into play. As stated the 2A and 3A have a number of players playing both ways. Remember a few years back watching our local team. One of the starting tackles played middle LB the other outside LB. The fullback was DT and the 2 running backs played DE. This was a 1A 11 man team (before the 1A 11 moved to 2A). AS far as condition the guys never left the field and they made the playoffs. Don't know that "coaching" is that much better just a lot more of them in the larger schools so the players get more individual coaching maybe than they do at 6-man level. Still say at 2A and 3A could be a toss up and maybe 6-man slight advantage but once you get to 4A and up talent levels are usually better and the large school would win most of the time, not always.

 

[Old Bearkat]

Need a little context. What 6-man team and what 11-man team? What class was the 11 man team? These are factors that come into play. As stated the 2A and 3A have a number of players playing both ways. Remember a few years back watching our local team. One of the starting tackles played middle LB the other outside LB. The fullback was DT and the 2 running backs played DE. This was a 1A 11 man team (before the 1A 11 moved to 2A). AS far as condition the guys never left the field and they made the playoffs. Don't know that "coaching" is that much better just a lot more of them in the larger schools so the players get more individual coaching maybe than they do at 6-man level. Still say at 2A and 3A could be a toss up and maybe 6-man slight advantage but once you get to 4A and up talent levels are usually better and the large school would win most of the time, not always.

Throckmorton and Windthorst.

 

[oldergoat]

Thanks. Found an article about the game and it proves my point. Small 11 man school vs top 6-man school the 6-man can compete. Move to the bigger 11-man schools and there is no way they can compete. Windthorst would have been destroyed by mast 4A and 5A schools that year.

 

[WindthorstFan3]

Thanks. Found an article about the game and it proves my point. Small 11 man school vs top 6-man school the 6-man can compete. Move to the bigger 11-man schools and there is no way they can compete. Windthorst would have been destroyed by mast 4A and 5A schools that year.

Windthorst was destroyed by Munday that year 7-68 also lost to Seymour 0-35. We had a ton of big kids but not much speed. Definitely a rebuilding year for us as we went 5-5 on the season losing in the first round of the playoffs. Both teams agreed the exhibition game didn't count in the season record. What I remember about that game was Throckmorton was physical and quick. Don't know much about 6-man but like to take in an occasional game if there is one in the area, but in my opinion, Throckmorton was the best 6-man team in the nation.

 

[Longhorn85]

2012 .. 46-21...throck winning

 

[smokeyjoe53]

2012 .. 46-21...throck winning

It was a fun game to watch...... glad I got to witness it.........

 

[cgap]

Yeah, interesting topic. I'm sure we have seen some 6-man teams with 6 athletes that could compete with 6 athletes from 11-man. Calvert, among other top teams has had teams with 6 athletes that could all play at the next level. Also, an 11-man back or rec. doesn't have that extra 13 yards on a six-man field. Case in point, look at Texas School for the Deaf this year. Had to come down from 11-man, won state in TAPPS first year, beat Veritas, a perennial power, though they had some injured players. TSD started to figure it out toward the end of the season. I've been in 6-man for about 8 years after 30 years in 11-man. We all have seen some outstanding athletes in 6-man that could play in 11-man. Wish I could have played 6-man.
cgap

 

[Deleted member 21909]

The only advantage an 11-man school would have over a 6-man school in a 6-man game is coaches and players familiar with the game. Otherwise, the bigger school should statistically have better players.

I have seen a 6-man school vs. an 11-man school in a 6-man game, and it is an interesting concept. In regards to that game between Throckmorton and the 11-man school a few years ago, they should have either played all 11-man or all 6-man if they wanted an accurate score. The 6-man "portion" was the only one that mattered because a team typically scores more points in 6-man than 11-man. Thus, I am glad the coaches agreed not to count the game towards their respective records.

 

[JasonTX]

The only advantage an 11-man school would have over a 6-man school in a 6-man game is coaches and players familiar with the game. Otherwise, the bigger school should statistically have better players.

I have seen a 6-man school vs. an 11-man school in a 6-man game, and it is an interesting concept. In regards to that game between Throckmorton and the 11-man school a few years ago, they should have either played all 11-man or all 6-man if they wanted an accurate score. The 6-man "portion" was the only one that mattered because a team typically scores more points in 6-man than 11-man. Thus, I am glad the coaches agreed not to count the game towards their respective records.

After playing 11 man for the first 2 quarters it was Windthorst 7 and Throckmorton 0 at halftime. Not sure what the score would have been if played 11 man the whole game. I remember the coach saying they didn't score enough points in the first half. He apparently knew what was about to happen when they switched to sixman.

 

[Deleted member 21909]

That's interesting.

Although it is impressive that T-rock played with an 11-man team through a half, I think 11-man touchdowns should have counted more than the 6-man touchdowns. Reed also should have given the 11-man school his assistant to give them a shot in 6-man; ignorance is the only reason they didn't score more points in the 6-man portion.

 

[oldergoat]

As I have said I think it would depend on the size of the school. Top 6-man teams could compete against the average 2A school playing 6-man. Several years ago the last year Garden City played 11-man they were 0-10 and had a very good 6-man coach running the show. And they only had a varsity that year because of the low numbers of players. The next year in 6-man they fielded three teams, Varsity, Sub Varsity and a 2nd Sub Varsity. I was told that only 1 boy in the school did not paly football. GC made the playoffs that year and just about every year since if not every year. Point being with a lot of the same players they struggled against average and below average 11-man schools but were a top level team the next year in 6-man. Again the larger schools, 4A and up , just have to many kids to pick from and would almost always win playing 6-man against the 6-man teams.

 

[Johnny South]

That's interesting.

Although it is impressive that T-rock played with an 11-man team through a half, I think 11-man touchdowns should have counted more than the 6-man touchdowns. Reed also should have given the 11-man school his assistant to give them a shot in 6-man; ignorance is the only reason they didn't score more points in the 6-man portion.

Tebow, what I think you really mean is that Mike Reed should have tied at least one hand of his players behind their back, hobbled the Throck spreadback, and should have worn a blindfold himself in order for the 11-man team to look a little better on the scoreboard!

 

[Deleted member 21909]

No, that isn't what I mean at all. The only reason for a 6-man school to play 11-man or vice versa, or both in the case of the the game I referenced, is to get a look for future games.

You have watched many more Richland Springs games than me. When the Coyotes met Strawn, did the "quarterback" take the snap instead of the perquisite lateral? Will Balmorhea play a 300 pound guy against the spread? Will Cherokee understand the ball has to go 15 yards, instead of 10, to recover an onside kick?

I am all for teams "giving it their all," but the point of playing, especially before district, is to get something out of it to help you later. Preying on an 11-man school's ignorance does not make a sixman team better. Basically, beating Hamilton 96 to 0 in sixman (I am not saying San Saba because those boys are darn good) is less impressive than beating Eden 96 to 0 because Eden should know how to play sixman.

This happens a ton in basketball when pressing teams beat teams that cannot break the press 60 to 2, yet cannot run a half court offense when a team can break the press. Maybe the coach should quit pressing, only beat the team 40 to 10, and work on their poor half court offense to help them later.