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E AST O REGONIAN THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 2022 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS | FACEBOOK.COM/EOSPORTS A8 Nine-man football back on the table By RONALD BOND Wallowa County Chieftain WILSONVILLE — Nine- man football appears to be back on the discussion — at least at the 2A level — in a move that would have a major impact locally if put in place. But it’s a move Greg Grant, Heppner athletic director and football coach, and a member of the Oregon School Activ- ities Association’s Football Ad Hoc Committee, believes is necessary to help build programs back up. “It’s to help everyone. The impetus behind this is that with roster sizes, schools are making decisions and foregoing JV football at a higher rate,” he said. “If you don’t play JV football, your program is dying, and sub-varsity football is the life- blood of your program.” The outcome of the latest meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 19, was that the commit- tee is again considering the addition of nine-man football. In fact, the committee recommends nine-man for all 2A schools — schools that play 11-man currently. It continues to back the idea of eight-man football for larger 1A schools and six-man for the smaller schools. “The idea behind this amongst a lot of the schools is we could play JV games if we had a few more kids available,” Grant explained. “If you play nine on a Friday night (varsity game), then you can play nine or eight on a Monday (JV game). … Let’s say (with) a roster of 20-30 kids, you could sustain JV football. And that’s the goal.” Considered, dropped, then brought back Nine-man football was considered early on by the ad hoc committee, as it was looking at implementing the setup for larger 1A schools and all 2A schools, a move that would have, in effect, nixed eight-man football alto- gether. But a survey of 1A schools found they overwhelmingly supported sticking with eight- man as opposed to nine-man. In the Jan. 5 meeting of the ad hoc committee, it appeared that nine-man talk had been shelved altogether. Instead, the commit- tee cited support among 2A schools of adjusting to nine- man in its reasoning for bringing it back to the table. “The group reviewed correspondence and testi- mony from members of the 2A classifi cation indicating that a majority of schools surveyed supported moving to the 9-player game for the next time block,” the commit- tee wrote in its update. A regional eff ect The change, if imple- mented, would have an impact in the region. The Blue Mountain Confer- ence, as it is set to stand in the fall, has several Umatilla and Morrow county schools, including Irrigon, Heppner, Riverside, Stanfi eld, Umatilla and Weston-McEwen. Enter- prise and Grant Union round out what the BMC would look like, though Enterprise has been an eight-man team the last four years, and still has the option to play down. However, at the nine-man level, there would be fl exibil- ity for schools to play some 11-man contests — Grant said Heppner already is slated to play Warrenton and Kennedy this fall, and that those will be 11-man games — or, if needed, drop a player off to play an eight-man team. “I fully believe there are going to be some nine-man schools that are going to play some neighboring eight-man Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File Weston-McEwen’s Blane Peal (14) runs the ball Nov. 13, 2021, against the Heppner Mustangs in the quarterfi nal round of the Oregon School Activities Association Class 2A state football tournament at Les Payne Field in Heppner. The OSAA Football Ad Hoc Committee now rec- ommends nine-man football for all 2A schools beginning this fall. schools,” Grant said, noting for example that Columbia Basin schools who are at nine-man could, in theory, play eight-man schools in the Grande Ronde Valley. “They are appropriate regional matchups.” And while there may be some pushback, Grant said the move will hopefully help the sport in the long run. “The idea is not about our school and about our classifi - cation, it’s about what can we do to improve the number of kids playing,” he said. “Here we go. We’re going to give it a shot, and I’m going to explain to people in my football crazy town that we’re going to put two fewer kids on the fi eld. I’m not crazy about it, but I know it’s for the greater good.” Umatilla High School head football coach Chad Smith said moving 2A schools to nine-man would aff ect his team, which is 3A, but has been playing down to 2A in football. Last year, Umatilla fi nished with 26 players, he said, the highest in some time. “Right now, our goal is to get 30 to 35,” he said. While that gives Umatilla enough to field 11 players at a time, he said, many 2A schools struggle to have that many players. Umatilla played smaller Gaston last season, Smith said, and this year Gaston is on the schedule to play in Umatilla. The team already reached out to say it can’t play 11-man football. Playing nine-man means some Umatilla players won’t have the opportunities to gain experience, he said, but dropping to nine players is not nearly as diffi cult as going from 11 to eight. He said that’s a “huge transition.” When the fi nal decision comes down, Smith said, Umatilla obviously will adjust as needed. “I understand where they’re coming from, he said. “I’m just torn for what it means for us.” Six-man title supported Additionally, the commit- tee said it is fully supporting A Mystery by Agatha Christie Bend’s Tommy Ford is headed to his 3rd Winter Olympics Ford’s nomination to the team comes as somewhat of a surprise because he has not BEND — A little more raced at all on the World Cup than a year after suff ering a this season. In fact, he has not devastating knee injury and raced a World Cup since Jan. being airlifted from a Swiss 9, 2021, when he had a horrifi c mountainside, Bend’s Tommy crash in Adelboden, Switzer- Ford is writing the ultimate land, in the midst of a banner comeback story: He’s headed year. He was knocked uncon- to his third Winter Olympics. scious and suff ered signifi cant Ford, 32, and a life- injuries to his knee, long Bend resident, wrist and head. was included among The past year the six men named has been a painful, often emotional chal- to the U.S. Olympic Alpine Team by U.S. lenge for Ford, who Ski & Snowboard on has dealt with bouts Friday, Jan. 21. The of depression while Ford simultaneously reha- Beijing Games are set for Feb. 4-20, and bilitating his knee so the men’s giant slalom, Ford’s he can return to racing. specialty, is scheduled for Feb. Before the crash, Ford had 13. posted four World Cup top-10 Ford has reached the Olym- results in giant slalom in the pics again after enduring four 2020-21 season, including a surgeries and a concussion he podium fi nish. He was on his way to one is still recovering from. “This is such a cool oppor- of the best seasons of his long tunity!” Ford was quoted in career. a press release Jan. 21 from Ford said he tore two liga- U.S. Ski and Snowboard. ments in his right knee, broke “I’m stoked to be a part of the his tibial plateau and tore his team. It is freeing to be able meniscus. After his surgeries, to do what I know how to do he spent most of the off season with the support of those who home in Bend recovering. “I’m feeling more and more believe in it.” By MARK MORICAL The Bulletin normal,” Ford said in an inter- view with The Bulletin one month ago. “I’m able to ski in a comfortable way, and I’m just trying to push back into some training and run some gates. The knee’s been feeling really good and responding really well to training.” Ford was fi rst able to get back on snow in mid-Novem- ber at the U.S. Ski Team train- ing camp in Copper, Colorado. “That was wonderful,” he said. “The fi rst couple days were pretty slow, just sliding around and getting comfort- able. Once I started to go faster and link some turns, it was a really neat reminder of why I ski.” Ford — who grew up racing for the Bend-based Mt. Bachelor Sports Education Foundation — competed in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, and the 2018 Games in Pyeo- ngchang, South Korea. Racing in giant slalom, he fi nished 26th at Vancouver and 20th at Pyeongchang. He did not compete in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, because he was recovering from a broken leg he suff ered while freeskiing in France. making six-man football a sanctioned sport that could play for an official OSAA title, an option that was not in place during the pilot program for six-man. That would allow Echo back into the official title picture on the gridiron. The committee also made a decision to change its stance on playoff eligibility for teams that do play down. The committee elected to drop its position from the prior meeting and allow teams playing down eligibil- ity for the postseason. “Ultimately the group shifted their stance in this area to recommend that schools meeting the criteria and choosing to play down would be eligible for OSAA playoffs, but that these schools would be reviewed on an annual basis by the Football Ad Hoc Commit- tee,” the update from the OSAA said. The committee also is seeking feedback on a poten- tial change to the season schedule. It is considering adding a week to the beginning of the season or to the end, making the season 10 weeks for nine games to be played. It says the consideration would help with odd-numbered leagues, help offi cials whose ranks are stretched thin and help with transportation issues, among others. The next ad hoc commit- tee meeting is slated for Wednesday, Feb. 2. — East Oregonian news editor Phil Wright contributed to this article. Directed by Produced by Jeremy Reed Barbara McKinney ON THE SLATE Schedule subject to change FRIDAY, JAN. 28 Echo vs. Lyle/Wishram, 6 p.m. THURSDAY, JAN. 27 Prep girls wrestling Hermiston at Kennewick, 6 p.m. Prep girls bowling Hermiston at Atomic Bowl, Richland, Washington, 12 p.m. Prep boys wrestling Hermiston at Kennewick, 6 p.m. Prep boys wrestling Hermiston vs. Chiawana, 7 p.m. Prep girls basketball Irrigon at Nyssa, 5:30 p.m. Griswold vs. Powder Valley, 6 p.m. Riverside at Umatilla, 6 p.m. Prep girls basketball Irrigon at Vale, 5 p.m. Hermiston at Richland, 5:45 p.m. Pilot Rock vs. Union, 6 p.m. Heppner vs. Grant Union, 6 p.m. Stanfi eld at Weston-McEwen, 6 p.m. Griswold at Nixyaawii, 6 p.m. Ione/Arlington vs. Horizon Christian, Hood River, 6 p.m. Prep boys basketball Pendleton vs. Crook County, 6:30 p.m. Irrigon at Vale, 6:30 p.m. Griswold at Nixyaawii, 7:30 p.m. Echo vs. Lyle/Wishram, 7:30 p.m. Pilot Rock vs. Union, 7:30 p.m. Heppner vs. Grant Union, 7:30 p.m. Stanfi eld at Weston-McEwen, 7:30 p.m. Hermiston at Richland, Washington, 7:30 p.m. Prep boys basketball Long Creek/Ukiah vs. Crane, 4:30 pm. Griswold vs. Powder Valley, 7:30 pm. Riverside at Umatilla, 7:30 p.m. College women’s basketball EOU vs. Bushnell, 5:30 p.m. College men’s basketball EOU vs. Bushnell, 7:30 p.m. JAN. 28, 29, FEB 4, 5, 11 & 12 AT 7:30 PM. FEB. 6 & 13 AT 2 PM. Box office hours: 6:30-7:30 pm Friday and Saturday and 1-2 pm Sunday during the weeks of the shows only. By permission of Samuel French | 1130 E. Sumach | 509-529-3683 | Tickets: $20 | Reserve yours online at LTWW.org