The Sentinels have struggled on the football field in recent years, going 1-16 over the last two seasons. They snapped a 24-game losing streak dating back to 2019 in the regular-season finale last fall.

“We haven’t had a JV program in a few years, and that has hurt us on the field. That was when we started struggling,” Ticonderoga athletic director Dan Dorsett said. “It’s a really big jump from modified to varsity.”

Dorsett said with numbers declining in lower classes, including a fifth grade with only 30 students, it was time to make the switch from 11-man football.

For a football program that reached the state finals in 2007 and 2015, and nearly made it to the Carrier Dome in 2006, going to the eight-man version may seem like a step down. Dorsett is hoping the change will be embraced by the team and the community.

“This is a very proud community when it comes to football,” Dorsett said. “There’s no school near us to merge with, and when you merge with another school, you’re no longer the Sentinels. We’re trying to save Ticonderoga football.

“From watching some games on the internet, it looks like football, there’s just fewer guys out there,” Dorsett added. “We’re hoping to get a few more kids out to give it a try, and hopefully (schools) will reach out to us when they see we’re playing eight-man.”

Ticonderoga currently has a five-game varsity schedule for this fall, which includes a Week 0 game at West Canada Valley, near Utica, a neutral-site game against Onteora of Section IX, and three games against Tupper Lake.

Tupper Lake, about a two-hour bus ride away, will be the Sentinels’ closest opponent. The Lumberjacks switched from 11-man to eight-man several years ago because of declining numbers.

Most of the eight-man teams in the state are located in rural areas of Central New York, the Southern Tier and the Catskills — Sections III, IV and IX, respectively. New York state crowned its first regional eight-man champion last fall.

“There are a couple of Section X teams that are on the bubble, so they may be looking at eight-man,” Dorsett said. “We could make up a four-team league down the road. That’s our hope.”

In New York state, there are few differences between eight-man football and the 11-man variety. The game is still played on a 100-yard field, and teams generally play with two fewer linemen and one fewer back or receiver. Teams need at least 14 players to play a game; 16 are required for 11-man football.