FREWSBURG — Eight-man football is played in 30 states, including New York.

This fall, it will come to Chautauqua County.

After a two-year football merger with Randolph, Frewsburg will be on its own again this fall, playing eight-man football in a league with five Section V programs.

Athletic director and football head coach Terry Gray held an informational meeting Thursday night in the high school cafeteria to explain to interested parents why the change had to be made.

“Nobody likes change,” Gray told the roughly 30 people in attendance.

In 2003, Frewsburg’s football program included 60 players while its senior graduating class that year was 90 students. Last year, with a graduating class of 60, there were just 16 football players in the high school.

Citing in a PowerPoint presentation that the two-year merger with Randolph “proved to not be the best path for our football program,” Gray began looking into the possibility of playing another form of football.

While Gray said that at least 10 local districts were represented at a Section VI meeting earlier this school year to gauge interest in eight-man football, Frewsburg ended up being the only one to jump on board.

“We foresaw this trend coming in all sports. The district desires safe and sustainable sports programs,” Gray wrote in his presentation. “This takes into account player numbers and putting athletes in safe and successful positions.”

Section V is hosting Frewsburg in its league and has decided to play on the same size field as traditional football, although other eight-man leagues do play on a smaller 80-yard field that is also narrower. While traditional football uses five linemen and six skill positions on offense, eight-man football consists of three linemen and five skill positions on offense. Defensively, teams can use whatever formation they would like, with some electing to get rid of a safety and some other combination of linemen and linebackers.

Gray also pointed to a decrease in travel time that will come with the switch to eight-man football. The Bears will likely play three or four away games ranging anywhere from an hour and 45 minutes to two hours and 15 minutes away from Frewsburg. While merged with Randolph, the Bears would board a bus at 2:30 p.m. each day after school and usually not return to Frewsburg until 6:30 or 7 p.m. each night at least five times each week. While games in the Rochester area will likely mean a commitment of eight hours after school on four Fridays this fall, the Bears won’t be traveling for practices or three home games like they were the previous two years.

The eight-man season also begins later than the traditional season. During 11-man football in Section VI, the first practice was held the third Monday in August with scrimmages two weeks later and games three weeks later. A tentative schedule this fall doesn’t have Frewsburg playing its first game until Friday, Sept. 20 at home against Pembroke. The Bears would then travel to Holley and Oakfield-Alabama before hosting Dundee.

Maple Grove has also expressed an interest in playing an eight-man game against Frewsburg in place of one of its non-league games, and the Bears would also like to make that work — possibly Oct. 18. Frewsburg will finish its schedule at Pembroke and home against Holley. A playoff week Nov. 8 would pit the first- and second-place teams against each other for the right to take on the Section III eight-man winner in a championship game. The third-, fourth-, fifth- and sixth-place teams from Section V would also play consolation games that weekend.

Gray also pointed to the positives of student-athletes being able to meet with teachers after school and the team having more time for “character-oriented” events that the Bears didn’t have because of travel obligations to Randolph.

Studies have shown that eight-man football is usually safer than traditional football because there are fewer athletes on the field and therefore more space. Also, with smaller rosters from smaller schools, generally removing two linemen from the game means two of the bigger bodies are gone.

Gray also assured parents who were concerned about possible college recruitment that athletes who play eight-man football can still get noticed.

“If they have the size, speed, strength and ability,” Gray said, “the coach, parents and student-athlete must work together to contact schools and coaches. If you’re good enough, they will find you.”

While Gray admitted being the only local school to turn to eight-man football gave him pause, he has become more accepting as time has passed. Also, if Frewsburg’s numbers ever go up to the point of being able to field a traditional 11-man team, the school will explore that option.

But for now, the Bears will be Section VI’s pioneers in the eight-man football experience.

“We can be safe, we can be sustainable,” Gray said, “and we can be Frewsburg.”