ROCKPORT — Eight-man football will be introduced in Maine this fall after winning approval Thursday morning at the Maine Principals’ Association’s general membership meeting at the Samoset Resort.

Thursday’s vote on high school football also reduces Class A, featuring the state’s largest schools, from 14 to eight teams. Six teams that previously played in Class A will move to Class B, which will expand from 17 to 22 teams.

While some athletic directors, including Thornton Academy’s Gary Stevens and Sanford’s Gordie Salls, spoke against the proposal to shrink Class A, reclassification for football passed easily by a hand vote.

Eight-man football was played in 18 states in 2017, but it has never been sponsored by the MPA until now. The idea gained traction in Maine last fall with many schools struggling to maintain rosters large enough to play the traditional 11-man version of the sport.

The vast majority of Maine high school teams will continue to play 11-man football, but 10 schools are opting for the eight-man version. Mt. Ararat, Gray-New Gloucester, Yarmouth, Ellsworth and Maranacook will be grouped into a large-school division, and Sacopee Valley, Traip Academy, Old Orchard Beach, Telstar and Boothbay will play in the other division. The winners of each division will play for a state championship.

Eight-man football is played with two fewer linemen and one less receiver or running back on offense. Already, athletic directors have been meeting to iron out details for what the sport will look like in Maine. While some states play eight-man football on a shorter field, in Maine it will be played on the traditional 100-yard field so teams can kick at the goalpost at both ends, according to Yarmouth AD Susan Robbins. The field width has yet to be determined.

“We’re circulating the eight-man rules to coaches,” Robbins said. “There’s an overall excitement to it all.”

There was no discussion about eight-man football before Thursday’s vote. Instead, the debate on football classification focused on changes at the top. Class A has been dominated by three programs in recent years, with Thornton Academy, Bonny Eagle and Scarborough combining to win the last seven state titles.

Thornton’s Stevens argued that concerns about competitive balance should be addressed by having more schools in Class A, not fewer. Earlier proposals this winter by the MPA’s Football Committee had Class A expanding from 14 to either 16 or 18 teams.

“A larger Class A will give teams more competitive games,” Stevens said.

Instead, Class A will include only eight schools that have more than 950 students. When the MPA changed how Casco Bay High is included in factoring enrollments at Deering and Portland highs, both of those schools dropped below the 950 cutoff and now will play in Class B for football. Other longtime Class A football teams shifting to Class B are South Portland, Windham, Massabesic and Cheverus. Three of the teams dropping to Class B – Cheverus, Windham and Portland – combined to win the last six Class A North titles.

In speaking against the football proposal, Sanford’s Salls said the teams moving from Class A to B are facing internal problems in building their programs, not external forces.

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