6 Man Football to Begin in South Dakota

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) – Six-man high school football is coming back to South Dakota. The board of the South Dakota High School Activities Association on Thursday voted 6-1 to add a six-man football class beginning in 2019. It will replace Class 9B and will be open to any schools with 40 or fewer boys. Remaining nine-man teams will be divided equally into two classes. Proponents say the move will allow smaller schools to continue having football. Six-man teams began playing in South Dakota in the 1940s. The six-man sport flourished into the 1950s with more than 110 schools participating, but in the 1960s the class was eliminated in favor of nine-man football.