It’s been a trying summer for the Roaring Fork football program, with the Rams struggling to put together a full roster for junior varsity competition this fall. Those struggles led to a self-imposed Friday deadline to have at least 15 players out for the team, or the Rams would cancel the program entirely.

But the Rams shifted gears, and with just 12 players held a players-only vote to decide if they would go down to 8-man football, or allow kids to go play JV football for Basalt or Glenwood Springs.

Friday’s vote ended up with the Rams’ players deciding to play the 8-man football format this fall.

However, there’s still one final hurdle to clear, as Athletic Director Jade Bath said she needs to get confirmation on Monday from Roaring Fork opponents about playing 8-man games this season.

“The players decided to do this,” Bath said. “We had 11 players vote to drop down to 8-man, and one player vote to go outside of the program to play for Basalt or Glenwood Springs. We’ll see what we can do with this; it’s nice to see the kids want to stick around and work through this.”

In 8-man football, the rules are nearly the same as traditional 11-man football, aside from the field being 13.5 yards narrower from the traditional 53.5 yards. Three positions are eliminated, with the three positions on offense typically being two offensive tackles and a skill player, and two defensive backs and a defensive lineman.