Eight-man football, a staple of the CIF San Diego Section since 1986, is in trouble.

As recently as the 2022 season, there were 14 schools in three leagues playing eight-man football in the San Diego Section. The sport, with its wide-open offenses, was thriving.

The outlook for this season shows just six eight-man teams — St. Joseph Academy, Borrego Springs, Julian, Warner, Francis Parker and Salton City West Shores. That’s the fewest teams in the section in more than two decades.

Two schools that fielded teams last year, Calvin Christian and Horizon Prep, will not play in 2026. Ocean View Christian was among the schools discontinuing eight-man football last year. And San Pasqual Academy has been in limbo since winning a second straight league title in 2023.

“We don’t like losing two good programs like Horizon Prep and Calvin Christian, but they just don’t have the numbers,” said CIF San Diego Section commissioner Joe Heinz. “This is among the challenges faced by the small schools.”

Escondido-based Calvin Christian departs the eight-man scene just two years after reaching the section final. San Pasqual Academy won back-to-back Manzanita League titles as recently as the 2022-23 seasons. But SPA shows an early enrollment of just 28 students for the current school year.

Rancho Santa Fe’s Horizon Prep won the 2024 Manzanita League championship, but doesn’t have the participation numbers to play this fall.

Even champs struggling

St. Joseph Academy made the numbers work a year ago.

A roster of 20 players came together and won 10 games, including a 68-13 victory over Borrego Springs in the San Diego Section championship game for eight-man teams, giving the Crusaders their second consecutive CIF crown under coach Tom Davis.

St. Joseph is 20-2 over the last two seasons, but isn’t immune to struggles facing eight-man programs.

“We’re actually down in numbers as well,” Davis said. “We will only be fielding 17 players. Over the past four years, we have been 20-plus.”

New coach at Parker

After coaching at Borrego Springs for 10 seasons, Tim White has moved westward to Francis Parker.

Francis Parker has an estimated enrollment of about 540 students for the upcoming school year, the most of the current eight-man schools. Borrego Springs expects an enrollment of about 100.

Taking over the reins in Borrego Springs is White’s son, Ty.

Tim and Ty White are the son and grandson of Ed White, perhaps the best offensive lineman ever to put on a San Diego Chargers uniform.

The father-son coaching matchup is set for Aug. 28, when Francis Parker hosts Borrego Springs in Linda Vista.

Borrego Springs finished with a 9-2 record a year ago, winning the Manzanita League title and advancing to the section final against St. Joseph. St. Joseph eliminated Francis Parker in the semifinals.

Julian jumps
Julian improved from a three-win season in 2024 to a 7-4 record last year under coach Eddie Valenzuela. The Eagles, who currently have a roster of 20 players, open the season Sept. 5 at home against Harvest Prep of Yuma.

Warner starts school this week and hopes to beef up its roster of 15.

West Shores has an enrollment of about 300 students, but the early turnout for football shows only 12 players. The Wildcats are slated to open their season Sept. 4 at Lucerne Valley.

Four of the six participating teams will again qualify for the eight-man playoffs.

“We’re hoping that some of these schools can bounce back, as we would like to go back to an eight-team playoff,” Heinz said. “For this season, we’ll take the top four teams again, regardless of how they finish in their conference.”