Montana 6-man Spotlight: Bainville v. Plevna (PHOTO GALLERY)
Tagged under: Beyond The Keystone, Game Photos-Videos, Gameday Hub, News
Sykotyk | October 13, 2025
In Northeast Montana, there aren’t many towns. And even fewer schools. And many of those schools play six-man football. The oft confused variant that looks like football, plays like football, but with a lot of unique rules all its own.
Created in Nebraska in 1934, the rules began as a confrontation of shrinking schools in shrinking towns throughout the middle of the country. Derisively called ‘flyover country’, this heavily agrarian and more recently oil-centric region of the country has many schools playing six-man football.
Aside from the smaller field and fewer players, the most notable differences in six-man are that every player is an eligible receiver, it takes 15 yards for a first down, and quarters are just ten minutes. There are some more variances, but those are the key ones.
Like 8-man, the field is narrower and shorter, at just 80 yards by 40 yards. Due to kicking being far more difficult, extra points via kick are worth 2, while ones via run or pass are just worth one. This is because to kick, you only have four blockers for six defenders as a placeholder and kicker must be behind the line as with any extra point.
On top of that, another key feature you will notice, is the ‘double snap’. To keep games competitive, the player who receives the ball from the center cannot run across the line of scrimmage. And it also effects how the defense can pursue. However, once the ball is handed off, the ball carrier can cross the line.
To expedite things, in six-man it is incredibly common for each play to start with a double snap. The ball snapped to an up man, usually 5 to 7 yards behind the line of scrimmage, and then tossed back immediately to another player who will act as the de facto quarterback. At this point, they’ll block or take off on passing routes while the quarterback evades the rush.
This was never really the intent of the rules, just a reality that has evolved over the years and has led to a noticeable increase in scoring in the six-man game. Due to the lower numbers, smaller field, etc, high scores are quite common. Triple digits are not unbelievable, though still usually pretty rare.
PHOTO GALLERY:
For more, and larger, photos from this game, click HERE.
Follow PA Football News on Twitter @PaFootballNews
You must be logged in to post a comment.