By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
Starting in 2026, the Troy Trojans will move from the 11-man football ranks to 8-man football.
The Kansas State High School Activities Association announced its classifications for 2026 and 2027 last week. The move comes with a drop in enrollment.
Troy Head Coach Derek Jasper, after Troy's win on Friday, says having to move to play eight-man football is certainly disappointing
"I never thought I’d have to coach 8-man here at Troy, but it was also expected,” Jasper says during the Friday Night Lights Scoreboard show on KFEQ. “Like I said we suited up 19 tonight, next year we’re looking at having like 16 players, and so we had to make a move, it was inevitable, it’s not anything anybody wanted but it’s a lot better than having to forfeit a game or something in the middle of next season if we lose some people to ineligibility or injuries.”
Jasper says when you can only suit up 16 players it can be scary to play 11-man football. Jasper adds he knows the community is probably disappointed in having to make the move
"We’re going to probably be 8-man for three or four years when our numbers are way down like this, but something we had to do,” Jasper says. “And I’m about done here, but I’m going to have to learn how to coach 8-man football, and I’ve never done that of course, never thought I would, but it kind of is what it is and we’ll grasp it and accept it and just go with it, and we look forward to it kind of now I think everybody’s kind of moved on and knows that it was inevitable that it had to happen.”
Jasper says they'll do their best to fill out a schedule next year, with no real 8-man teams in the area, he knows the travel will be brutal but says they are looking forward to the challenge.
Jasper says the most disappointing thing though about moving out of 11-man football is losing some key county rivalry games
"With Riverside and Doniphan West and Centralia, we won’t play them anymore, but now we’ll play like the Hanover’s and Axtell’s, like the blue bloods of 8-man football in Kansas and they’ve been doing it for years and it’s going to be something new for us,” Jasper says. “So, might take us a little while to get our feet under us as 8-man and understand what’s going on and even the rules and stuff, a big move for us and I know that was big news for everybody.”
Jasper says Troy has been playing 11-man as one of the lowest enrollment numbers in the state of Kansas, and they tried to keep it going, but it was to a point that it could not be sustained.
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