Six (as in players) is the magic number as Northwest Christian finds its football niche

Kyle Dunn has a vision for his Northwest Christian High School football program. Coaching just a few blocks from South Sound Stadium, he hopes to see his Wolverines take on one of Lacey’s Class 3A public schools by the end of the decade.

“I’m an ambitious guy. Everything’s in place. It just a matter of time,” said Dunn.

For the moment, though, Northwest Christian, which sputtered in several tries at traditional 11-man football and earlier this season didn’t have enough healthy players for 8-man, has found the perfect niche for a school of just more than 100 students:

Six-man football.

A staple in Texas, where 262 schools play, and 12 other states, six-man is new to Washington.

Sparked by Mary M. Knight coach Tom Kerr, a group of 13 schools now play the sport experimentally. If a critical mass of 24 schools can be reached, the WIAA will offer an official state championship next year.

The Wolverines will contend. They are 4-0 heading into Friday night’s regular season finale, hosting Wishkah Valley at Tenino at 7 p.m. It’s a rematch. Northwest Christian won 54-14 on the road earlier in the season.

Northwest will have home field advantage throughout this season’s unofficial two-round post-season tournament.

“I’ve coached 11-man, 8-man and 6-man. This is the most fun I’ve had in football,” said Dunn, who played for Black Hills and became a linebacker at Cabrillo College, a community college in Northern California. After graduating from Southeastern Oklahoma State, he assisted at Rochester, Black Hills and Elma before taking over as the Wolverines’ head coach last season.

The myriad of rules differences between 11- and 8-man football and 6-man provided a spark in reviving the sport at Northwest. Teams open up offenses as they must gain 15 yards for a first down. Every player is an eligible receiver, but the player who receives the snap from center isn’t allowed to run it across the line of scrimmage.

“It still boils down to blocking and tackling, running and passing,” Dunn, who has coached basketball and baseball at Northwest and will become A.D. when Mark Smith retires next spring, said. “But the cool thing is because everyone is eligible, it’s more like basketball where you can win with a team of all guards or if you have a lot of post players you can dominate in the paint. This game is a brand of its own, there are different ways to win.

“If you’re creative, if you’ve got smart guys who buy in, you can have success.”

At Northwest, six-man was an easier sell to skeptical athletes.

The Wolverines entered fall assuming they would play eight-man, but traveled to a season-opening jamboree with only nine players. One broke his collar bone, another quit. Dunn called the remaining players together to advise them they could attend Northwest, but play for the public school in their neighborhoods.

“We have some varsity level players (for a 3A school). If they wanted to, it was early enough for them to go to the school they live closest to and play. Nobody wanted to do that,” he said.

Enter Kerr, who smoothed the way for Northwest to join the nascent group of 6-man schools, helping put together a schedule as well.

Abruptly, more players found their way to the Wolverines’ on-campus grass practice field.

“We were a little outmatched in 8-man,” Dunn admits. “We were playing schools like Mossyrock and Winlock. They have feeder programs. They’re tough country kids. Knowing they’re going to have to play every down in a real physical game, any kid that was on the fence didn’t want to play.

“Now, with six, we’ve got some basketball kids out. I sell it. I say ‘hey if you’re really serious about basketball you’re going to play this six-man game. Nothing is going to get you in shape like this, you’ll get stronger for driving to the hoop.’”

Thirteen players now suit up for Northwest, including several who began at another local high school, playing 11-man. Senior quarterback Aaron Brooks believes it’s a perfect fit for a small school. Senior running back Junior Babber, who leads the Wolverines with 623 yards from scrimmage and five interceptions on defense, agrees.

“I know everyone’s name. I see them in the halls at school during the day, so we’re all pretty close,” he said.

The downside, said Brooks, briefly a tight end at Capital, is a lack of depth.

“I’m playing quarterback and defensive lineman, which is probably the only time you’ll see that,” he said. “We have some really good players, but it would be nice to have more.”

Senior Dig Zilla, the son of Dunn’s high school coach Jack Zilla, now the offensive coordinator at River Ridge, has scored 12 touchdowns on 384 rushing yards and anchored the Wolverines defense with three interceptions and 48 hard-hitting tackles.

“I like six-man because it’s faster, there’s more room for everything,” Zilla said.

Babber, a 20-point scorer in basketball who transferred from Timberline, also appreciates the speed of what can be a high-scoring game.

“It doesn’t take 10 minutes to score one touchdown. If you try a play and it works, you’re going to get 20 yards,” he said.

Senior running back Isaac Appadurai has scored four times on offense and made 37 tackles.

Babber attributes the Wolverines improved won-lost record to increased toughness on defense.

“Last year, to be honest, we didn’t want to go out and hit hard. We just wanted to score touchdowns and look cool,” he said.

Brooks says Zilla, with roots as a football coach’s son, sets the tone.

“He by far hits the hardest of anyone on our team. When I see Dig hit someone really hard, I think ‘I want to do that, too,’” he said.