Eagles flock to gridiron for 8-man football

By Tom Peavy

Published: May 22, 2008

There’s a new football team in town.

When the 2008 high school football season cranks up this fall, Ballard Christian School will join other high school teams on the gridiron.

But there’s a catch.

The Eagles will be playing a relatively unknown style for these parts — 8-man football.

And leading the Eagles into their inaugural year of football will be head coach Buddy Hammock.

“We’ve been trying to get football here for four years, but never could get enough kids out for the team,” Hammock said. “But this time we got enough. We have 16 on the team now, and we’ll probably gain a few more once we get into the summer.”

The 16 Ballard players started spring practice in early April and will culminate their spring workouts with a three-team jamboree today in Sharpsburg, Ga., against Heritage Christian and Trinity Christian.

Putting a ready-to-compete football squad on the field for its first season hasn’t come easy for Hammock. But the former quarterback/middle linebacker and two-time state champion at Macon County High (now Notasulga High) has found a way to keep the school’s football plans moving forward.

“Most of these kids have never played, so the whole spring’s been a learning process,” Hammock said. “We’ve had to teach basic fundamentals and basic stances, but they all seem ready to play.

“We started in shorts and helmets and when we put the pads on and started hitting I thought we may lose a few. But they’ve all stayed and they seem excited.”

Along with preparing a team to play, Hammock has also been instrumental in making sure his squad has a home field at the Moore’s Mill Road campus.

“We ordered goal posts weeks ago and finally got one up — and that was a significant step for the program,” Hammock said. “Now we’re working on fencing in the field and getting lights up.”

As with other sports at Ballard, the football squad will be a part of the Independent Christian Schools of Georgia and Alabama. Currently, the ICSGA has 13 of its 26 schools will football programs.

According to Hammock, the Eagles will begin preseason workouts on Aug. 1, with its first game of a 10-game schedule slated for Aug. 22.

Eight-man football comes with just a handful of different rules from the normal 11-man variety. Teams in 8-man play on a field 40 yards wide and 80 yards long, as opposed to the 55x100 yarder.

Teams also play with two fewer linemen and one less back, and have to have five on the line of scrimmage instead of seven.

“Other than that, it’s still football,” Hammock said.

Hammock’s son, Kyle, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound junior, will quarterback the Eagles and double as a linebacker.

“Kyle’s been wanting to play football since he could walk,” Buddy Hammock said. “We all love football and he’s really excited to finally be able to play.”

Kyle will be joined on Ballard’s first football team by Austin Hall, Judson Butler, Cameron Johnson, William Cahill, Jacob Hall, Daniel Lane, Judson Scott, Colton Sturkie, Codi Sturkie, Isaac Cowan, Tom. J. Turkington, Samuel Gullatte, Micah Staples, Chase Higgins and Dakota Overton.

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