Northern 8 Football Conference
The Northern 8 Football Conference is an 8-man football conference sponsored by the OHSFCA that began competition in the 2020–21 school year and is made up of 8-man teams from high schools located in Henry, Lucas, Mahoning, Monroe, Ottawa, Portage, Sandusky, Trumbull, and Williams Counties in Ohio and Mercer County in Pennsylvania.
Members
| School | Nickname | Location | Colors | Joined League | Notes |
| Cardinal Stritch | Cardinals | Oregon | Red, Black | 2025 | |
| Chalker | Wildcats | Southington | Orange, Black | 2024 | |
| Danbury | Lakers | Lakeside | Blue, White | 2020 | |
| Holgate | Tigers | Holgate | Purple, Gold | 2020 | |
| Kennedy Catholic | Eagles | Hermitage | Maroon and Gold | 2026 | |
| St. Mary Central Catholic | Panthers | Sandusky | Navy Blue, Vegas Gold | 2021 | |
| St. Joseph Central Catholic | Crimson Streaks | Fremont | Crimson, Gray | 2024 | |
| Sebring McKinley | Trojans | Sebring | Purple, Gold | 2023 | |
| Stryker | Panthers | Stryker | Blue, White | 2020 | |
| Windham | Bombers | Windham | Black & Gold | 2026 |
Membership timeline
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bar:1 color:blue from:2020 till:end textcolor:white text:Danbury
bar:2 color:purple from:2020 till:end textcolor:yellow text:Holgate
bar:3 color:blue from:2020 till:end textcolor:yellow text:Stryker
bar:4 color:blue from:2020 till:2024 textcolor:yellow text:Toledo Christian
bar:5 color:blue from:2021 till:end textcolor:yellow text:St. Mary Central Catholic
bar:6 color:purple from:2023 till:end textcolor:yellow text:Sebring
bar:7 color:orange from:2024 till:end textcolor:black text:Chalker
bar:8 color:red from:2024 till:end textcolor:black text:St. Joesph Central Catholic
bar:9 color:red from:2025 till:end textcolor:black text:Cardinal Stritch
bar:10 color:claret from:2026 till:end textcolor:yellow text:Kennedy Catholic
bar:11 color:black from:2026 till:end textcolor:yellow text:Windham
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text:"N8FC Membership History"
History
The Northern 8 Football Conference was created in October 2019 when Stryker and Toledo Christian agreed at a meeting to form the league for OHSAA schools that are committing to play 8-man football for the future. The OHSAA does not currently sponsor the 8-man game, but several member schools resorted to that option instead of playing the traditional 11-man game or choosing not to play out the season. Stryker and Toledo Christian forfeited their football membership in the Toledo Area Athletic Conference, but remained members of the Buckeye Border Conference and the TAAC respectively, for all other sports.Two other schools that attended the initial meeting would later get board approval to join the league, Holgate agreed to join later on in October 2019 and Danbury joined in November 2019. Holgate was ultimately kicked out of the Green Meadows Conference for this decision, but joined Stryker in the BBC for all other sports beginning in 2021. Danbury also remained in the Sandusky Bay Conference's River Division for other sports.
St. Mary Central Catholic was invited to join in the league for a minimum of two years and accepted their invitation in 2021 but intended to get back to 11-man football eventually. As of 2023 they still intend to play in the N8FC.
In October 2022, the league announced that Sebring McKinley of the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference was invited to join for the 2023 season. The Trojans had similar issues with 11-man football and had only won 37 games between 1993 and 2022 after posting their last winning record at 6–4 in 1992.
The N8FC hosted its first ever State Championship in November 2022, which is currently being sponsored by the OHFSCA. The Holgate Tigers beating the Toledo Christian Eagles 37–34.
On October 20, 2023, St. Joseph Central Catholic announced their intention to play 8-man football beginning in 2024 with their belief that it would offer safer competition against schools closer to their size. On November 7, 2023, the conference announced they had admitted SJCC and Southington Chalker into the league, beginning in 2024. Chalker fielded a varsity football team for the first time since 2020, as they were not able to field a team in 2021. They became a club football team in 2022 and played a hybrid JV/8-man schedule in the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
In December 2024, Toledo Christian announced it would return to 11-man football as an independent in 2025 and will return to the Toledo Area Athletic Conference in 2026.
In April 2025, Cardinal Stritch of Oregon, Ohio announced its football program would return as a member of the N8FC after having cancelled two of its previous three seasons due to low participation.
In November 2025, Kennedy Catholic of Hermitage, Pennsylvania was officially accepted into the league. The Eagles played an 8-man schedule with N8FC opponents in 2025 but didn’t officially join the league until the next season. Windham was also accepted into the league at the same time after seeing dwindling enrollment and roster numbers for the past few seasons.
The league is actively looking for more schools to commit to a two-year membership. They have not set a definite number of schools to be members.
8-man state championship history
8-Man, Championships by Team| Team | Wins | Loses | Seasons |
| Toledo Christian Eagles | 2 | 1 | 2022, 2023, 2024 |
| St. Mary Central Catholic Panthers | 1 | 1 | 2024, 2025 |
| Holgate Tigers | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Chalker Wildcats | 0 | 1 | 2025 |
| Danbury Lakers | 0 | 0 | |
| Sebring Trojans | 0 | 0 | |
| Cardinal Stritch Cardinals | 0 | 0 | |
| Stryker Panthers | 0 | 0 | |
| Windham Bombers | 0 | 0 | |
| Kennedy Catholic Eagles | 0 | 0 |