A Six-Man football dynasty

Bastrop Tribe Consolidated High School is home to one of the biggest powerhouses of six-man football.

Since Coach Brent Golemon took over as head coach in 2017, he has led the Warriors to four straight TAIAO Six-Man State Championships (2017-2020) and finished runner-up last season. This year, he and his team consisting of all but two returning players hope to add another championship trophy to their rapidly growing collection. The experience and togetherness of this year’s group has Golemon feeling confident about the upcoming season. “We’re in a good spot,” Golemon said. “A team that went all the way to the finals is now bigger, faster, stronger, and older. So we’re looking really good that way.” In 2022, the Warriors will be counting on key contributions from offensive leader, Chandler Golemon; defensive leader, Chuy Gonzales; and returning running back, Elijah Rendon.

When asking Golemon why Bastrop Tribe has been so successful, he alluded to the players’ resilience, unity, and love for the game. “I think we’ve got a perfect blend of sort of a rural mentality,” he said. “Most of our players have to hold down jobs. They come from all over, some of them 40 or 50 miles away. So playing football is a luxury for them. It’s not something that’s easily provided.” Of course, there have been plenty of talented players to go through Golemon’s program. But the disciplined, hard-working, and “team first” mentality is the crucial intangible factor that has helped breed a winning culture. Golemon referenced last year’s team as the perfect example of this mindset that his players always seem to exhibit. “I think if you’d ask, most coaches would have said we wouldn’t have made it past the first round of the playoffs. They get all the way to the final and almost pull off one of the greatest upsets in six-man in a long time.” Despite low expectations from outsiders, his club simply slogged away each week, which Golemon believes is the epitome of their program.

Six-man football was invented in 1933 as a sufficient alternative for schools who simply didn’t have enough students for a standard 11-man football team. Though this is still the main reason for six-man football existing at many schools, there are also some aspects of the game that could be seen as more advantageous compared to 11-man. Golemon believes that playing six-man football at a young age can develop a versatile and multi-dimensional skill set that isn’t overly position specific. “We too often tell a young man, 13, 14, 15 years old, that you’re going to be a lineman or you're going to be a running back and unfortunately, they get pigeonholed at these young ages. Whereas six-man football, everybody’s eligible, everybody has to catch the ball, everybody blocks and makes tackles.” Rather than being confined to a specific set of skills associated with a single position, six-man opens the door for young athletes to thrive in a variety of positions, which can lead to a more immediate impact when a player transitions to 11-man.

Akin to previous teams, Golemon emphasized that the 2022 team is “a very tight brotherhood.” Bastrop Tribe will play their opening game against St. Joseph Catholic on August 25th at 7:30pm.