Home > List > Football > American Football > Nine-man Football

Nine-man football is a team sport which was derived from American Football and modified to be played, as the name implies, with nine players on each team. The sport is mainly played in high schools within the United States that have small enrollments. As of 2015, 116 high school teams have been participating in nine-man football.

Nine-man football has almost retained all the rules of American Football, with only minor modifications to suit nine players. The primary modifications are with offensive and defensive formations.

Nine-man football is played in regular football fields with smaller playing boundaries. The width of the field used is 40 yards; as opposed to 53 1/3 yards used for a regular sized field. The length of the field used is 80 yards or a full 100 yards depending on what each state opts for.

Points are scored in the form of touchdowns, field goals, extra point conversions, and safeties. Matches are played in four 15 minute quarters, and the team that scores the most points wins. Most nine-man football games are high scoring games, where both teams score at least 30 points, and several games see scores upwards of 70 points.

Nine-man football is also played in small schools in parts of Canada. The sport is played at a junior level in France, Australia, Norway, Italy and Argentina.

---

---

Similar Sports

• American Football - each team attempts to advance an oval ball down the field into the end zone by running or passing it.
• 8-Man Football — a variation of American Football, played primarily at high school level in the US, by schools that have smaller student enrollments.
• Sprint Football (formerly lightweight football) - a USA varsity sport by lightweight players which emphasizes speed and agility.

Related Pages

• About football (general)
• Football Decoder — what is called football around the world?
• Complete list of sports
• The Encyclopedia of Sports