Friday Night Lights, Houston Style: Six-Man Football Isn't Just For Tiny Towns

​
Since Hair Balls started covering high school football, we've been itching to check out a six-man game, because after all, the supposedly big-time games in recent weeks have been somewhat of a letdown. But on Friday night, we found a true football mecca: the Rosehill Christian School.

Along a tree-lined, two-lane blacktop road that winds across the northern part of Harris County -- just outside Tomball -- past a Dollar General store and RV-parts store, past gas stations where gas is $2.13 a gallon, the Rosehill campus lights up out of nowhere. With its sprawling green areas surrounding a glassy retention pond in front of the school, the campus resembles a small-scale version of one of the mega-churches that have popped up along highways in the suburbs.

And the school is on the up. For example, when Hair Balls called Rosehill to find out where, exactly, the football game would be played, the receptionist told us, "On the athletic field, behind the gym, where all the cars are parked." She added, "We got lights. Wooo-hooo!"

Not bad for a school that's not even ten years old.

And at halftime, after the cheerleaders (no band or drill team) performed a mid-field routine, which we assume was racy for Christian-school standards, to Britney Spears's Toxic, Dean Unsicker, the head of Rosehill school, stood on the field with a microphone and said, "Fannnnnntassssstic!" Then he told the fans that new bleachers were on the way that would fit 650 people and were outfitted with a real press box.

The new bleachers can't come soon enough, it seems, because the small stands were already packed tight, and on the home side of the field, fans sat in lawn chairs along the sidelines, in rows three deep. Some sat on picnic blankets or simply stood to watch the game and talk to the other Rosehill fans.

The actual game play isn't going to attract any big-time scouts, but it certainly is entertaining. On the first play we saw (we got to the game a little late) Rosehill attempted an extra point, but the snap sailed past the holder, past the kicker, and hit the referee. A player from the other team, Houston Texas Christian, dove on the ball.

The rest of the game could be described a shoot-out, mostly dominated by Rosehill. The final score was 83-36, an average score for a six-man game. If you're a fan of high school football and never experienced a six-man game, we suggest checking out a game at Rosehill. It's quite a scene.

For more scenes from the game, check out our slideshow.