TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
The Plattsburg football team started the 2022 season with about 25 players. By the time they reached their first-round district game against top-ranked East Buchanan, the Tigers were down to 15.
East Buchanan won 68-0.
The Tigers, last year, got outscored by an average of 56-7 and finished the year at 0-10.
After several team meetings in the offseason, Plattsburg administration decided the best path forward would be to switch to 8-man competition.
The proposal was passed unanimously by the Plattsburg board of education this past January, and now the Tigers are getting set for their first season as an 8-man team.
Plattsburg head coach Brandon Boswell says the entire school, community and the KCI conference have been supportive of this change.
"For the most part, everybody has been really supportive of the move," Boswell told KFEQ Radio. "Hats off to our KCI conference members being supportive of it."
Plattsburg will play in 8-man for three seasons. The decision was largely based on numbers and participation rate.
As for making the adjustments on the field, Boswell says being an 8-man team doesn't mean that everything changes in terms of how they practice.
"We've been able to take what we've done in 11-man and use the same terminology and principles in 8-man," he said. "That's really what we want to do these three years in 8-man. What we do at our middle school level, we want to use the same terminology and a lot of the same things."
"So, as those kids come from middle school to high school, it's not really that different."
On offense, Boswell says there are several players coming back and joining the team that excite him.
"We're a spread team," he said. "We like to spread it out and throw the ball around. So, we're usually, most of the time, 10 personnel (one running back and four receivers) anyway. We do return a running back in Donte Bingham, who qualified for state in the 100 meter dash."
Senior and all-state basketball player Isaia Howard joins the team this year. He's listed as a quarterback and receiver on a MaxPreps roster.
Plattsburg also boast four seniors on their offensive line - Jon Fish, Braden Brown, Dakota Rankin and Korbin Dow. Junior Gavin Boyle also gives Plattsburg some more speed. Boyle qualified for state track in the 4x100 meter relay.
The Tigers have 28 total players out this fall. Plattsburg opens the season on Saturday, August 26 at home against Maysville. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m.
Plattsburg will also compete in the Braymer jamboree this Friday evening at 6 p.m.
Overall, Boswell says the support for this move to 8-man has been very strong throughout the community.
"In terms of making this transition, we've been very fortunate and owe a lot of thanks to our kids, parents, our community for being supportive in all of this. I have great administration here at Plattsburg."
Brandon Boswell interview
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