Craig Diedrich are committed to ….

Craig Diedrich are committed to getting Athens acclimated to their new home as quickly as possible.

The Rogue Conference will have seven teams, with the top four playing in a 1 vs 4 seed, and a 2 vs 3 seed once the regular season is over.

The winners between those games will then have a final game to determine who wins the conference title, and the losers of the semifinals will play each other. The bottom three will also play a round-robin in order to get more games.

“The goal is to get in as many games as possible, especially for our younger kids,” Diethelm says. “We got a real good group of seniors, but after that, we’re a little thin. This season is all about getting the kids used to the game, and every kid who comes out is going to get some snaps. So they should have a lot fun with it.”

With several all-conference players returning, expect Athens to pile up the points, much more so than last season, when COVID-19 quarantines depleted an already thin roster.

“The numbers are really what killed us last year,” Todd says. “We had the athletes, but when COVID hit, we lost a lot of games because we couldn’t field a full team. If we had played 8-man a year earlier, I would have liked my chances against anyone in the state.”

The number of schools joining 8-man are only going to grow. In 2012 just 16 schools played 8-man football. By 2018, that number had grown to 32. Now, roughly 60 teams are in the sport, and those numbers are expected to continue to climb, making Athens’ jump to the scene all the more timely.

“I think once we get used to the style of play, which tends to have a little more passing and higher scoring, I think we’ll be good,” Diethelm says.

Diethelm hopes to have Athens in a position to do well this season, and while he forsees growing pains, he’s happy gridiron glory and Friday night lights will prevail in Athens.

“It all comes down to giving the kids opportunities,” Todd says as practice comes to a close. “As long as they get to play, I’m happy, and if they’re happy, then it’s all good.”