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Shorthorns First 6-Man Home Game This Friday

marfa-shorthorns

It's Football Friday across the region. This evening, Alpine's Fighting Bucks face off against the Wink Wildcats, Fort Davis plays Loraine, and Balmorhea battles EP Immanuel Christian.

In Marfa, the Marfa High School Shorthorn football team hosts its first home game of the season against the Sanderson Eagles this Friday, September 7th, at Martin Field. The game is the Shorthorns’ first game as a six-man team on their own turf, following a loss against Grandfalls-Royalty during last weekend’s Third Annual West Texas Six-Man Shootout.

The Shorthorns will attempt to bounce back from last week’s 47-0 loss, a game that was called minutes into the third quarter in accordance with the “mercy rule” of six-man play, which ends a game when any team takes a 45-point lead at any point after half time. Along with the pressure of overcoming last week’s defeat and delivering a hometown win, the Horns will face the challenge of finding energy and rhythm for this new style of play. But that’s a challenge that Head Coach Jeff Jones says the team is prepared to accept.

KRTS News spoke to Jones on Thursday. “I feel confident every time we play a football game,” said Jones. “We feel we’re very prepared every week.”

His confidence stems in part from lessons learned at last week’s game, and the ways the Shorthorns continue to learn and fine-tune the nuances of six-man football. Saturday’s loss to the Cowboys began with two onside kicks against the Horns. Grandfalls recovered both for a touchdown before Marfa could take possession. Jones says the team quickly learned some lessons during the game, specifically how valuable an onside kick is in six-man play.

“If a team can do it good, it’s a big time weapon,” Jones said. He also noted that the team now knows how important the first tackle on a play in six-man is, given the small number of players pursuing the ball.

The Shorthorns may still be finding their footing in the six-man game, but fans will likely be learning right alongside them. Six-man football is brand new to Marfa, although this unique style has a rich history in small towns and smaller divisions across the state, stemming back to 1938 (or 1936, depending on who you talk to.) According to sixmanfootball.com, the self-proclaimed “Bible of Six-Man Football In Texas,” the first documented game of six-man took place in 1938 between two schools in Caldwell County located just minutes from each other along a quiet stretch of highway 80 near San Marcos.

With that game, Prairie Lea and Martindale began a long tradition of this fast-paced, more physically demanding style of football. At its height, six-man was played by 160 teams in Texas. Apart from the small number of players, six-man also requires that teams gain 15 yards for a first down, rather than 10. Field Goals are worth 4 points, extra point kicks worth 2, and the game is played on a smaller 80 by 40 yard field. All six players are potential receivers, but the QB cannot pass the line of scrimmage without first passing or handing off the ball.

Jones and the Shorthorns are studiously crafting their approach to six-man play, both for tonight’s game and the rest of the season.

“We’ve been working pretty hard,” said Jones. “We got back down to basics, simplified our playbook, cut out stuff we don’t need to worry about.” Jones is confident the team’s embrace of fundamentals will help them against Sanderson tonight, along with the Horns’ natural edge over the Eagles.

“Sanderson’s not as quick, I’m confident we can tackle them,” Jones said, but he’s quick to note that Marfa is part of the hardest six-man district in the state. But that doesn’t seem to faze the players themselves.

“The returning seniors are going in with a good attitude, it’s going to be easy for the underclassmen to build on that,” said Jones. “They’re excited. They’re ready to show it off here.”

The Marfa Shorthorns play the Sanderson Eagles for the season’s first home-field game, Friday, September 7th at Martin Field. Kickoff at 7:30 pm.