We started something like this at Mason County. It was Dan Gooch's idea when he was at Montgomery. In 34 seasons as a head coach, this has been the best format for player development. Freshmen can play every minute of every game for the entire week. The OT gets kids home at a decent time on a school night so they can eat and do homework. The two different games with short quarters allows kids to play against kids that are the most like them. We have endured enough JV games where juniors on the other team, who got blasted on a Friday night, were blasting our freshmen on a Monday night to feel better about themselves and their program.  Ridiculous and a great way to encourage your young kids to quit football. 

A by product... when freshmen know they will have games against other freshmen, and they will practice separate, they are more likely to come out for football. My hometown was use to all 4 grades practicing together. We got alot of criticism for practicing the freshmen separate. But, our roster hit 70 in 2019, 2020 & 2021 for a 3A school.  My son was a freshman QB. Instead of getting 3rd team reps with the Varsity. He got first string reps at Freshman practice. Game changer. 

The first Mason County team to win in Flatwoods was our freshman team in 2002. They took 12 kids. Henry Boone & Chris O'Hearn were their coaches. 

 

 

Organized by Anderson County varsity head coach Dave Buchanan:


Leather Helmet Frosh/JV League

1.) We will play freshmen (freshmen plus weakest sophomores as necessary. Max of 20 players if any weak sophomores are included)/JV doubleheaders on Monday nights. Each quarter will be 6 minutes so that kids can play all 3 games in the week if they need to do so. * You can also do this... the freshman game is your bottom 20 players of the roster. If you go that route, let the opposing coach know and also do NOT play the JV freshmen in the freshman / bottom 20 game.

2.) Freshmen games will be freshmen plus weakest sophomores (or bottom 20 of the roster as necessary). Max of 20 players if any weak sophomores are included. JV games can be grades 9 thru 11. If you use a varsity starter, they must start on the other side of the ball that they start on Varsity AND you must notify the opposing coach no later than Monday, noon, on game day.

3.) Freshman game will be played first and that game will begin at 6 pm.

4.) Overtime procedure (2-point play). Coin Toss. Winner of the Toss chooses offense or defense. If the offense scores, add two points and that is your score. If the defense stops them on the 2-point play, add two points to their team and that is the score. Rationale: this breaks the tie, but gets kids home for school work, meals, and protects their bodies from an extended OT.

5.) CKFOA will be assigning secretary for games at Anderson.

6.) Playoffs and championships will be hosted by the higher seed.

7.) To determine standings, freshman and JV game results will be combined into one standing.

8.) Tiebreaker will be the number of points given up by the defense.

9.) All disputes will be settled by a consensus the four head coaches at each HS.

10.) There will be no league games on Oct 12 due to fall break, or Sep 7 due to Labor Day.

11.) The objective of this league is player development.



 

Other Freshman & Froshmore League Threads:

2026 Central Kentucky Freshmore Football League

2026 NKY Frosh Football Scores & Rankings

2026 Bluegrass Freshman Conference

2026 Non-"League" Freshman & Froshmore Football Around Kentucky

Anderson County
Mon Aug 24 vs. Collins (6:00pm Frosh/7:30pm JV)
Mon Aug 31 at Spencer County (6:00pm Frosh/7:30pm JV)
Mon Sep 7 - BYE WEEK
Mon Sep 14 at Nelson County (6:00pm Frosh/7:30pm JV)
Mon Sep 21 at Collins (6:00pm Frosh/7:30pm JV)
Mon Sep 28 vs. Spencer County (6:00pm Frosh/7:30pm JV)
Mon Oct 5 vs. Nelson County (6:00pm Frosh/7:30pm JV)
Mon Oct 12 - BYE WEEK
Mon Oct 19 - TBD (League Playoffs)
Mon Oct 26 - TBD (League Championship)

Collins
Mon Aug 24 at Anderson County (6:00pm Frosh/7:30pm JV)
Mon Aug 31 vs. Nelson County (6:00pm Frosh/7:30pm JV)
Mon Sep 7 - BYE WEEK
Mon Sep 14 vs. Spencer County (6:00pm Frosh/7:30pm JV)
Mon Sep 21 vs. Anderson County (6:00pm Frosh/7:30pm JV)
Mon Sep 28 at Nelson County (6:00pm Frosh/7:30pm JV)
Mon Oct 5 at Spencer County (6:00pm Frosh/7:30pm JV)
Mon Oct 12 - BYE WEEK
Mon Oct 19 - TBD (League Playoffs)
Mon Oct 26 - TBD (League Championship)

Spencer County
Mon Aug 24 at Nelson County (6:00pm Frosh/7:30pm JV)
Mon Aug 31 vs. Anderson County (6:00pm Frosh/7:30pm JV)
Mon Sep 7 - BYE WEEK
Mon Sep 14 at Collins (6:00pm Frosh/7:30pm JV)
Mon Sep 21 vs. Nelson County (6:00pm Frosh/7:30pm JV)
Mon Sep 28 at Anderson County (6:00pm Frosh/7:30pm JV)
Mon Oct 5 vs. Collins (6:00pm Frosh/7:30pm JV)
Mon Oct 12 - BYE WEEK
Mon Oct 19 - TBD (League Playoffs)
Mon Oct 26 - TBD (League Championship)

Nelson County
Mon Aug 24 vs. Spencer County (6:00pm Frosh/7:30pm JV)
Mon Aug 31 at Collins (6:00pm Frosh/7:30pm JV)
Mon Sep 7 - BYE WEEK
Mon Sep 14 vs. Anderson County (6:00pm Frosh/7:30pm JV)
Mon Sep 21 at Spencer County (6:00pm Frosh/7:30pm JV)
Mon Sep 28 vs. Collins (6:00pm Frosh/7:30pm JV)
Mon Oct 5 at Anderson County (6:00pm Frosh/7:30pm JV)
Mon Oct 12 - BYE WEEK
Mon Oct 19 - TBD (League Playoffs)
Mon Oct 26 - TBD (League Championship)

4 hours ago, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

We will play freshmen (freshmen plus weakest sophomores as necessary. Max of 20 players if any weak sophomores are included)/JV doubleheaders on Monday nights. Each quarter will be 6 minutes so that kids can play all 3 games in the week if they need to do so.

Uh, kids playing in 3 games per week?  Who gave the OK behind this?

What a terrible idea.

7 hours ago, New Colonel said:

Uh, kids playing in 3 games per week?  Who gave the OK behind this?

What a terrible idea.

Quarters are six minutes. Legally, they can play every single minute. But, that has never happened. The guys that play on Monday play limited reps on Friday.

11 hours ago, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

Organized by Anderson County varsity head coach Dave Buchanan:


Leather Helmet Frosh/JV League

1.) We will play freshmen (freshmen plus weakest sophomores as necessary. Max of 20 players if any weak sophomores are included)/JV doubleheaders on Monday nights. Each quarter will be 6 minutes so that kids can play all 3 games in the week if they need to do so. * You can also do this... the freshman game is your bottom 20 players of the roster. If you go that route, let the opposing coach know and also do NOT play the JV freshmen in the freshman / bottom 20 game.

2.) Freshmen games will be freshmen plus weakest sophomores (or bottom 20 of the roster as necessary). Max of 20 players if any weak sophomores are included. JV games can be grades 9 thru 11. If you use a varsity starter, they must start on the other side of the ball that they start on Varsity AND you must notify the opposing coach no later than Monday, noon, on game day.

3.) Freshman game will be played first and that game will begin at 6 pm.

4.) Overtime procedure (2-point play). Coin Toss. Winner of the Toss chooses offense or defense. If the offense scores, add two points and that is your score. If the defense stops them on the 2-point play, add two points to their team and that is the score. Rationale: this breaks the tie, but gets kids home for school work, meals, and protects their bodies from an extended OT.

5.) CKFOA will be assigning secretary for games at Anderson.

6.) Playoffs and championships will be hosted by the higher seed.

7.) To determine standings, freshman and JV game results will be combined into one standing.

8.) Tiebreaker will be the number of points given up by the defense.

9.) All disputes will be settled by a consensus the four head coaches at each HS.

10.) There will be no league games on Oct 12 due to fall break, or Sep 7 due to Labor Day.

11.) The objective of this league is player development.

Thanks for putting this out there. Found out last night, Eastern, Oldham, North & South Oldham are going to do the same thing. 

On 4/23/2026 at 9:11 PM, ChiefSmoke said:

Quarters are six minutes. Legally, they can play every single minute. But, that has never happened. The guys that play on Monday play limited reps on Friday.

It's not even about the minutes, it's about the number of days in a week you are going full-contact.  This is the reason contact is limited in practice these days.

Good thing USA football has put guidelines out for this sort of thing that obviously aren't being followed.  

This is wreckless. 

What are the rules on contact for football practice?  I have watched several middle school practices over the last few years.  They NEVER hit fully or tackle to the ground.  It has to be challenging to teach proper techniques (blocking and tackle), the whistle is blown so quickly.  How do high school teams handle contact in practice?

5 hours ago, New Colonel said:

It's not even about the minutes, it's about the number of days in a week you are going full-contact.  This is the reason contact is limited in practice these days.

Good thing USA football has put guidelines out for this sort of thing that obviously aren't being followed.  

This is wreckless. 

The only guys that can play in all 3 games is a freshman or weak sophomores. Those guys won't play much, if at all, in the Varsity game and only as a sub for the JV game. 

This format matches them up in games against other players most like themselves. It has worked great. Injuries have not been a problem. 6 minutes go by fast. In season, we rarely go to the ground at any level of practice. The early morning on Wednesdays are great to give our guys an extra 12 hours of recovery before the Friday night game. 

Before, we were playing JV games. 10 minute quarters. Freshmen against juniors. That is when injuries were a problem. 

4 hours ago, New Colonel said:

It's not even about the minutes, it's about the number of days in a week you are going full-contact.  This is the reason contact is limited in practice these days.

Good thing USA football has put guidelines out for this sort of thing that obviously aren't being followed.  

This is wreckless. 

Are you aware that most schools have play a full JV schedule and a full Freshman schedule? So that’s a lot of kids playing in two full games and then sometimes garbage times on Friday nights?

The rule is very clear. If the quarter is 6 minutes, it counts as 1/2 a quarter. Therefore, two full games with 6 minute quarters = 4 quarters of participation for that week. Regardless of what you think of the league (it’s great for the kids and great for development) it’s just simply within the rules. 

14 minutes ago, wingt51 said:

Are you aware that most schools have play a full JV schedule and a full Freshman schedule? So that’s a lot of kids playing in two full games and then sometimes garbage times on Friday nights?

The rule is very clear. If the quarter is 6 minutes, it counts as 1/2 a quarter. Therefore, two full games with 6 minute quarters = 4 quarters of participation for that week. Regardless of what you think of the league (it’s great for the kids and great for development) it’s just simply within the rules. 

Another advantage I should have mentioned... our staff is out on Mondays and Fridays. Lots of schools with freshman and JV programs, they are out Monday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday. This league helps me keep the coaches' wives happy and keep coaches. 

16 hours ago, wingt51 said:

Are you aware that most schools have play a full JV schedule and a full Freshman schedule? So that’s a lot of kids playing in two full games and then sometimes garbage times on Friday nights?

The rule is very clear. If the quarter is 6 minutes, it counts as 1/2 a quarter. Therefore, two full games with 6 minute quarters = 4 quarters of participation for that week. Regardless of what you think of the league (it’s great for the kids and great for development) it’s just simply within the rules. 

Ok, so why do you have varsity, jv, and freshmen teams if you don't have enough kids to actually field those teams.  There is ZERO reason to have even a single player play in 3 games in a week.  

Either you have enough players or you don't.  As I stated this is wreckless and not safe for players involved.  USA football recommends 1 full contact game or scrimmage per week, and here there are people advocating for kids playing 3x a week?  So much for player safety.