Rural Colorado runs on 6-man football
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STRATTON, Colo. — “Different.”
That’s how Stratton’s four-year head coach described 6-man football, the sport that defines much of small-town Colorado.
A variation on traditional, 11-man football, the sport rallies entire communities with half the players and makes fierce the names Stratton, Cheyenne Wells, Idalia and Otis, places “most people couldn’t find [if you] gave them a road map and circled it,” according to the prolific Colorado 6-man sports writer and radio broadcaster, Kerry Sherman.
“Once you’ve watched a 6-man game, you can’t get it out of your mind. It gets in the blood,” said Sherman.
“It’s something that you have to experience to understand.”
Many trace the origin of 6-man football’s back to Nebraska high school teacher Stephen Epler. Enrollment was too low at Epler’s Chester High School to build an 11-man football team, so he developed a slightly modified version that required only six players per side.
After a successful first game between the “Hard-Chests” from Chester and Hardy, Nebraska, and “Bel-Alex” from Belvidere and Alexandria, Nebraska, Epler expanded upon his work, publishing a handbook in 1937 that included many of the rules still in place today.
These include:
- The field is only 80 yards long instead of 100, and only 40 yards wide instead of 53.3
- Teams must take the ball 15 yards for a first down, instead of 10
Touchdowns are still worth six points, but extra point place kicks are worth two. Field goals are worth four points.
Some other aspects that make the game particularly challenging is that every player on the field is “eligible,” meaning they can catch a pass (in traditional football, only a handful of players like receivers or running backs are eligible), and players who receive the snap cannot run past the line of scrimmage (i.e., no QB sneaks).
According to the most recent 2023–2024 participation survey published by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), 374 schools from nine states fielded 6-man teams, including 42 schools from Colorado, the third most after Montana (56) and Texas (147).
According to MaxPreps, 34 teams competed in Colorado’s Division A 6-Man football league, almost all of which are from schools located across the eastern plains.
“It doesn’t matter where we’re at in the state, 6-man kids are generally the same,” said Sherman. “Rural kids who have chores to do before practice and after.”
By Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) rule, high schools with fewer than 70 enrolled students are eligible to play 6-man football, which is why the sport most commonly appears in Colorado’s more sparsely-populated southern and eastern regions.
With a population of about 650 according to 2020 Census data, the town of Stratton, which is located about 150 miles east of Denver and only about 30 miles from the Kansas-Colorado border, is actually on the larger end of towns with 6-man teams.
Stratton has three restaurants, two markets and one school district, which includes an elementary school and a junior/senior high school.
On Friday nights, the Stratton Eagles’ football field is the only place to be.
“There’s not a lot to do in small communities, and this is kind of the gathering point for [the public],” said Matt Brachtenbach, the current mayor of Stratton and a former Stratton Eagle himself.
Brachtenbach previously coached at the high school. Today, he continues to move down markers on the sidelines with other volunteers, many of whom were former players themselves.
Stratton’s football community is bolstered in part by its storied 6-man program, which has been dominant for decades. Many point to the early 90s, when Stratton was still designated as an 8-man team, as the genesis of the program’s current strength.
Tyson Fye played from 1993 to 1997. In that time, the Eagles set a then-state record for 48 consecutive wins, taking three state championships and one runner-up.
“I think five or six of those players are here today because they’ve got sons on the team,” said Fye, whose sons Stockton (a senior) and Gunner (a freshman) were both playing.
“It’s the history of Stratton football, of being part of a tradition of winning and being part of history.”
Stratton has played in eight straight championship games and won four of them, including back to back titles in 2022 and 2023. The eight-straight appearances included their rematch with the Cheyenne Wells Tigers this year, though the Eagles lost 50–27.
Cheyenne Wells (pop. ~1,200) is located about an hour southeast of Stratton. The two schools have formed something of a rivalry in the last few years, Cheyenne Wells beating Stratton for the crown in 2021 and losing to Stratton in 2023.
The Tigers went undefeated this year, handing the Eagles their only two losses, the first in the season opener, and the second in the season finale.
Stratton’s history of winning, and the outpouring of community support that strengthens the team, inspires future Eagles from a young age.
“Middle school year, that’s when it starts,” said Gage Levin, a Stratton senior who plays center, defensive end and occasionally kicks.
Levin was born and raised in Stratton, and grew up hoping to play on the varsity team. He helped “manage” the varsity team in high school, which includes collecting balls and assisting players on the sidelines.
“Seeing the players above you, it really starts inspiring what you can do,” Levin said.
Head Coach Jesse McConnell, who has coached the varsity team to four straight championship games in his four years as coach, began as a Stratton Eagle himself, playing 8-man football on the same grass field in the 90’s.
“When I was in middle school, I would watch these guys wear the Stratton jersey, and I just wanted to be like them,” said McConnell.
After graduation, McConnell went on to play 11-man football at Western Colorado University in Gunnison. He said that transitioning from 8-man to 11-man football was tricky, but easier than 6-man, which requires some different skills and expectations.
While there have been a few 6-man football players who reached the NFL, including former linebacker and coach Jack Pardee and former Dallas Cowboys tight end James Hanna, very few continue playing in college, much less the pros.
Sherman noted that some scouts appreciate the versatility of many 6-man athletes, who might be able and willing to play in both offensive and defensive positions.
Future careers aside, Sherman said that 6-man offers small-town athletes the chance to participate in “something that’s bigger than themselves.”
McConnell, who currently works as the Stratton School District P.E. teacher, said his elementary and middle schoolers looking up to the varsity players as role models. The high school often sends “lunch buddies” to sit and eat with the elementary schoolers, and he has seen the players character and enthusiasm transfer to the younger kids.
“We have about 30 or so boys in the high school, and like 24 are going out [for football],” said McConnell. “Everyone wants to be a part of it, and it’s great to see that support in the school and in the community.”
Some fans mentioned that Stratton has been criticized for fielding large teams from a pool that “should be in 8-man instead of 6-man,” but the school currently operates within the CHSAA guidelines.
McConnell rolled the field lines himself in preparation for the semifinal game, and he said that on some snow days, he has seen “like 80 parents come at the drop of a hat” to plow the field before a game. Cars begin parking in the lot on the Thursday before a Saturday game to protect their spots.
“Growing up in a big school district versus a small one, I would pick a small one any day of the week,” said Diana Fye, mother to Stockton and Gunner and one of the loudest team moms on the sideline.
She is one of the early parkers, and she watches the game from just outside the surrounding chain-link fence so she can rattle her hand-painted Stratton cowbells (CHSAA rules ban any noisemakers on the field.)
“We’re all family. I have two boys out on the field, but I say that I’ve got 26… because those are my boys,” she said.
Sherman, who has been covering 6-man football in Colorado for around 40 years, has seen towns like Stratton and Cheyenne Wells emerge as household names due to their high school football programs.
“It’s a sense of pride,” said Sherman, “because no matter where you go, you can wear that name either on your chest or on your back, wherever, and say, ‘Hey, yeah, I’m from there. I’m one of them.’”
Stratton won a nail-biting semifinal game against Otis, a town of about 500 in northeastern Colorado. Stratton played against Cheyenne Wells for the championship in Pueblo the Friday after Thanksgiving, and lost.
Friday was the last time that Levin would wear “the green and white,” and he does not plan on continuing to play after high school.
However, Levin said he would always remember the pride he had playing for the Eagles, and the unending support he received from his town and his team.
“Having somebody there that lifts you up all the time, that’s one of the most powerful things we have,” he said. “I’ll never forget that, wherever I go next.”
