St Phil Football Thrives with 8 on Field
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
August 22, 2016
BATTLE CREEK — Five years ago, the future of football at Battle Creek St. Philip looked rather bleak.
The Fighting Tigers had won just three games over the previous two years, and numbers continued to dwindle.
“Our last year of 11-man, I think we had 18 boys out for football,” said Dave Downey, who has coached at St. Phil for more than 20 years. “We were not competitive playing 11-man.
“The kids just weren’t coming out because it wasn’t fun. We were getting beat all the time.”
The school decided to go to 8-player football, and the program has thrived.
Last season, the school’s fourth playing 8-player, St. Phil finished 12-1, losing only 58-33 in the MHSAA 8-player Final to Powers North Central.
“After we went to 8-man (five years ago), we had 28 on the roster,” Downey said. “The program really grew because we went to 8-man. It actually saved the program.”
The transition was not without a few fumbles.
“We didn’t know what we were in for,” Downey said. “That first year we struggled a little bit. We ended the season 7-4, but we learned a lot.
“It was an eye-opener for us. We didn’t know what to expect.”
Although the length of the field for 8-player is still 100 yards, the width is five yards fewer on each side.
That first season, Downey said he had confidence his 8-player team could play on an 11-man regulation field – but soon found out why the field is not as wide.
“Our first year, we didn’t move the markers in and we couldn’t cover the field, especially anyone with speed who would get on the outside and go,” he said.
“Our first game, we lost bad because we thought we could play on a big field, which we couldn’t.”
This year’s nine seniors have played 8-player all four years, but it gets even better than that for St. Phil.
“They’ve actually played 10 playoff games already (over four years), so they’ve already played (the equivalent of) four seasons,” Downey said.
“This is almost like their fifth season. Experience-wise, this group of seniors is really valuable.”
Success and motivation
Last Thursday, St. Phil scrimmaged Lawrence and then Big Rapids Crossroads to get game experience before opening the season this Friday at Kingston.
“We didn’t keep score, but it went well,” Downey said. “It was good experience for some of the younger kids, especially the freshmen, to play and learn.”
He said the veterans, especially the co-captains, are like having extra coaches on the field.
“They know exactly what our schemes are and our blocking patterns and they really help us out,” he said. “Our line is coming back. We’re solid up front.
“We have Noah Ellinger, our captain; Grant Hallacy who started last year as our other guard; Andy Forche at center and all of them played a lot last year on the line.”
Senior co-captain Grayson Obey has played football since fourth grade and said going from the traditional 11-player in Rocket youth football and middle school football to 8-player was no big deal.
“I think going from middle school to high school, not 11-man to 8-man, was harder,” he said.
Obey said last year’s success is a great motivator.
“We got a taste of a really good team last year, so it’s good motivation to work hard and try to push to get that again this year,” he said.
Ellinger agrees that the transition to 8-player was not a big deal.
“It’s two less linemen and I’m a lineman, so it’s just kind of shortening it up a little bit,” he said.
Playing both ways on the field takes some getting used to at the beginning of the season, Ellinger said.
“The first couple games it’s pretty hard,” he said. “You’ve got to learn to manage your time. It’s kind of tiring, but you get used to it.”
Downey said the parents like 8-player because “it is a little bit safer.
“We don’t have as many big kids on the field as 11-man. When you have the big kids, the little kids are the ones who seem to be getting hurt all the time.”
St. Phil lost all-state quarterback Brendan Gausselin to graduation, but Downey is eyeing sophomore Ryan Reincke and freshman Connor Gausselin for the position while senior Drew Lantinga recovers from a basketball injury.
“Last year Drew played wide receiver and linebacker,” Downey said. “He was the leading tackler on the team last year at linebacker.”
Connor Gausselin is Brendan’s brother.
“My brother played football and was pretty good, so I want to follow in his legacy,” Connor Gausselin said. “He’s helped me a lot. In every sport I play, I like being in control like a leader, so quarterback is a leader on the field and I like that.
“I’m very excited. My brother said high school football is the best part of high school, being under the Friday night lights. It will be fun.”
8-player grows statewide
Enrollment numbers are key to 8-player football in Michigan.
Of St. Phil’s 140 students, 21 are on the football team.
While Michigan has 564 schools playing 11-player, the state had 40 playoff-eligible 8-player teams last season. Currently, 48 teams are eligible for the postseason heading into this fall's first games.
Only Class D schools are eligible for playoffs, and enrollment must be 206 or fewer this year.
Class C schools or those with larger enrollments (cutoff was 212 students for the 2015 season) may compete in 8-player but they are not eligible for postseason play.
This fall, four Class C schools are competing in 8-player: Kingston, which was Class D last year; Dryden, Rudyard and Grand Traverse Academy. The latter two fielded 11-player teams last season.
Burton Madison Academy was Class C last year but dropped to Class D this year and is now eligible for postseason play.
St. Phil plays in the Southern Michigan 8-Man League with Tekonsha, Burr Oak, Camden Frontier, Waldron and Litchfield.
Other seniors on the Tigers are Tim Minier, Mike Scriber, Ben Swagler, Alex Yacovoni and Jordan Snyder. The other juniors are Justice Steiner and Morgan Bohannon.
Other sophomores are Chris Kubasiak, JC Downey, Nolan Kersten and Brodie Landstra. Other freshmen are Marcel Williams, Charley Harrington and Gus Strenge.
Assistant coaches are Jack Brown, Marc Pessetti and Jeff Minier.
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Battle Creek St. Philip’s Drew Lantinga hauls in a pass last season; he’s moving to quarterback this fall. (Middle top) Dave Downey, Noah Ellinger, Grayson Obey. (Middle below) Senior Tim Minier surges after taking a hand-off during practice earlier this month. (Below) Ben Swagler pushes ahead during the Tigers’ 2015 win over Portland St. Patrick. (Photos from 2015 courtesy of Battle Creek St. Philip; practice photo and head shots by Pam Shebest.)
Hastings at Home in Interstate 8, Preparing to Begin Next Title Pursuit
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
August 22, 2025
HASTINGS – Jamie Murphy remembers the decision as relatively simple.
The decision to move to a fourth conference in 29 years was of particular interest to a Saxons football program which had struggled badly during stints in the Ottawa-Kent Conference White and O-K Gold. So Hastings finally pulled the trigger on moving from the O-K Gold to the Interstate 8 Athletics Conference in 2016, and the results have been no less than stunning for the team.
"I encouraged it," said Murphy, the Saxons' coach since 2013. "This conference is more like the Hastings community. There are towns with one high school, one middle school, three or four elementary schools and the schools are all public … . There are similar dynamics with all of them."
While switching conferences naturally effects all of a school's teams, the results are often most judged by what happens under Friday Night Lights. There the decision to move from 21 years in the O-K White and O-K Gold has been like night and day for Saxons teams. Hastings went 16-26 in six years in the O-K White before compiling a 35-59 mark in the O-K Gold. Over two decades in those leagues, Hastings football teams had only six winning seasons and three of them were with 7-2 regular-season records from 2009-2011.
But that's all changed with inclusion in the Interstate 8, which was formed in 2016. The conference includes four old rivals – Coldwater, Battle Creek Harper Creek, Battle Creek Pennfield and Marshall – which were part of the Twin Valley with Hastings from 1977-94. Saxons football teams went 67-58 over 18 years in that conference.
After a slow start in the Interstate 8 which included a 9-19 conference mark from 2016-19, Saxons teams have won 28 of 31 games the last five years. Included are four straight league titles from 2020-2023, with only a 32-0 loss to Battle Creek Harper Creek a year ago keeping Hastings from a fifth championship. That stretch includes one torrid string where Hastings, which opens conference play Sept. 12 against Jackson Northwest, won 21 of 22 league games from Oct.16, 2000, to Oct. 18, 2024.
"Teams are very similar and there are ups and downs with any high school football team," Murphy said. "But we've been competitive in a league which has always been competitive in the state playoffs. How well you do there speaks volumes for how good programs are."
Interstate 8 teams are a respectable 18-18 in the MHSAA Tournament since 2019, including a 6-5 mark from Hastings.
Murphy said one of the most appealing aspects of the conference is a tight relationship between coaches. Virtually all, he said, have similar philosophies which include an emphasis on supporting multi-sport athletes, work in the weight room in March and April, modest summer programs and making the players a priority during the season. Murphy said coaches freely communicate via meetings, texts and emails with each other up to 10 months a year. Contrast that, Murphy said, with the O-K Conference where a select board determines which schools play in what divisions.
"We all want to keep the sport popular and alive," said Murphy, named a national 2025 Semper Fidelis Coach Award winner for his work upholding the U.S. Marines standard of excellence while developing teen leaders.
First-year Hastings athletic director Mike Mohn wasn't a part of Hastings' decision to move to the Interstate 8, but like Murphy he likes the idea of the similarity between schools, including an emphasis – but not overemphasis – on football programs. Athletic departments rely on income derived from football, and Hastings is no exception. Like many Interstate 8 schools, Hastings' home field, Baum Stadium at Johnson Field, can hold between 2,500 and 2,700 fans, with the home side featuring room for up to 1,600. Mohn said a typical Friday night crowd well exceeds 1,000 fans.
"We have like-minded schools in the Interstate 8," he said. "One of our goals is to build relationships, and we've done that. I think our games are well-attended, we can pack our side of the stadium and they can see a good product on the field. Year-in and year-out, we've been competitive and we're proud of that."
There is good reason to believe Hastings will be in the hunt for a fifth conference title in six years. The team returns 17 letterwinners, including six starters on offense and five on defense. The roster could include five sophomores and help from last year's 5-3 junior varsity club. Among the returnees is junior quarterback Mason Tossava, who ran for 300 yards and passed for 500 more as a sophomore. Hastings lost its top running back from its Wing-T offense, but does return 1,000-yard rushers Cardale Winebrenner and Tyler Frazier. Defensively, two all-conference returnees include cornerback Spencer Wilkins and tackle Trapper Reigler.
"Every year our goal is to win the league and make the playoffs," Murphy said. "That's who we are."
PHOTOS (Top) Hastings coach Jamie Murphy takes a moment for a photo during his team’s weight training session earlier this month. (Middle) Cardale Winebrenner (standing) spots for teammate Trapper Reigler; both are captains this fall. (Photos by Steve Vedder.)