Football: Spackenkill, Dover celebrate a return to 11-player football next fall

The stands were packed last September. Spectators at Spackenkill High School remained on the edge of their seats because, it seemed, every minute or so there would be something to prompt a standing ovation.

The scene was similar a year earlier at Dover High School, the rollicking atmosphere generated by its fans, cheerful of a resurgent season and entertained by a high-scoring game.

The next meeting of their football teams figures to create an even greater buzz. The audience will again be charged and the action on the field will be intense... but with a few more players.

Six, to be exact.

After years spent in Section 9’s eight-man football league, a division formed for area teams whose whittled rosters could no longer support the sport in its standard format, Dover and Spackenkill this fall will return to 11-player football.

“We are ecstatic!” Spackenkill coach Josh Riley said. “It was a decision made together, by the staff and administration, and I was surprised by how well it was received by the guys.”

Dover coach Christian Jones recently held an offseason meeting with the players’ parents, keeping them abreast of the changes underway and, he said, “the community is excited.”

The programs have benefit from increased participation, building depth and bolstering their rosters enough to make this jump. Both coaches said they anticipate having about 30 players on their varsity teams this fall.

Dover, under the stewardship of athletic director and former coach Paul Kenny, made the switch in late November. Spackenkill had floated the idea during the season and the decision was finalized with athletic director Marco Lanzoni in December.

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These teams, division opponents the previous three years, will continue that rivalry as Class C teams and meet on Sept. 8 at Dover in a Week 1 matchup. The players, Riley said, “are stoked for this.”

Jayson Vitolo, Mason Meilleur and Walter Grosevenor figure to be among the Dragons’ key players. Spackenkill will be led by star quarterback Dan Collins along with Hassan Milligan and Kason Cummings.

“The next step below eight-man for us would’ve been not having a football program,” said Jones, a former Arlington coach who was hired by Dover in January. “Being able to get back to a level of normalcy is huge. I really commend the staff here for holding it together and building it back up. They made a lot of progress last year.”

The change will, of course, require a significant adjustment from the players and coaches. The schematics and positioning, and even the field dimensions, will now be different from what the players have grown accustomed to.

“The X’s and O’s will be different from 8-man,” Riley said. “You try to keep some of the concepts, but they can’t be the same. That’ll be an adjustment for the players and staff. Hopefully it clicks over the summer and the transition won’t be too difficult.”

Jones in recent weeks has held walk-throughs and “chalk talk” meetings with players to begin familiarizing them with the playbook. They also plan to participate this summer in camps at Arlington and Mahopac.

“We won’t be able to pound teams like we did at Arlington, but we’ve got good athletes here,” he said. “We’ve got 12 players who are on the spring track and field team, so speed and agility will be what’s effective for us.”

The New York State Public High School Athletic Association requires a minimum of 16 healthy and active players for a team to compete in a game. That had become increasingly difficult for small schools as youth football participation declined nationwide over the past decade.

More than 1,000 schools in the county have reduced-player football, mostly in small towns. Dover, in fact, played the 6-man template back in the 1950s.

A handful of local teams in recent years had rosters hovering around 20, which met the requirement, but it came with an understanding that most starters would get no rest, and that a rash of injuries could force forfeits and derail the season. Eight-man football requires a minimum of 12 players, which made it a viable option for programs struggling with depth.

For Dover during the 2017 season, several drills were run with garbage bins used to represent players as there weren’t enough people available even to simulate an 11-on-11. They were among the first wave of schools to join when Section 9 introduced its 8-man league the following year.

Spackenkill, which once competed in Class B, had a dip in enrollment and a decline in overall sports participation. Their football team went to 8-man in 2019, joining Dutchess County neighbors Pawling, Dover, Pine Plains and Millbrook as the league grew to a dozen teams.

That two of those local teams now have rebuilt enough for a return to standard football suggests a growth in interest and bodes well for their athletic departments.

“One of the reasons we were able to make the switch back is because we’ve had two really successful seasons,” said Riley, whose team won the league championship in 2021 and reached the final last November. “That gets the students into it. Middle school kids are at the games and excited about it.”

Players, the coach said, have done their part in recruiting friends to join. The team excelled last season with a roster of 24.

It helped, of course, that the Spartans averaged 37.7 points per game during those two dominant seasons. The 8-man format is more conducive to scoring, with fewer players on the field and more space to operate. Spackenkill took full advantage with a prolific offense that generated touchdowns in a blink. That was a sure way to grab attention.

Dover won only three games last season, a step back from the 5-3 campaign in 2021, but its varsity roster carrying 31 players (with about 35 more on the modified level) still was an indicator of progress.

That program once was a powerhouse and its 1997 squad is the last Dutchess County football team to win a state championship.

Jones starred for the Dragons in the early 1990s and his brother, Tim, was a fullback on the state title team. Christian Jones’ connection to the program, and having played for Kenny, helped his candidacy for the coaching gig.

He worked for six years at Arlington as an assistant and junior varsity coach and thanked Admirals coach Michael Morano “for helping me learn as much as I did.” But an opportunity to coach in his hometown and lead his former team, “means a whole lot to me,” he said, “and I’m grateful to Coach Kenny for this.”

“When everyone found out I was getting the job, my mom bought me a sweatshirt that says, ‘Make history,’” Jones said. “I told her, they already made history in 1997. Now, we’re trying to remake it.”

Stephen Haynes: shaynes@poughkeepsiejournal.com; 845-437-4826; Twitter: @StephenHaynes4

This article originally appeared on Poughkeepsie Journal: Football: Spackenkill, Dover return to 11-player format this fall