The villages of Voznesenka and Point Hope couldn't be much different. In Voznesenka, children grow up speaking Russian and working their families' commercial fishing boats in Cook Inlet. In Point Hope, they speak Inupiaq and dream of one day becoming successful whaling captains on the Chukchi Sea.

But one thing binds these two rural Alaska villages: a newfound love for the sport of eight-man football.

This is about as far as you can get from Friday night lights. On an overcast Monday afternoon at Kenai Central High School earlier this fall, nine young men from one of Alaska's most isolated communities went through pre-game calisthenics.

Led by team captain Joe Martishev, the Voznesenka Cougars did the usual exercises: push-ups, up-downs and sit-ups, looking from a distance like a typical -- albeit very small -- high school football team.

But there was one big difference between the Cougars' pregame ritual and those practiced each autumn afternoon by thousands of high school football players across the country.

The Cougars count their jumping jacks in Russian.

Founded in 1985 by settlers from the nearby village of Nikolaevsk, Voznesenka is well off the beaten path. To reach the tiny fishing village at the head of Kachemak Bay, travelers must head 25 miles due east out of Homer. The last two miles are unpaved. There are rarely any visitors.

The people who live in Voznesenka are members of a Christian sect of Russian Old Believers who came to Alaska in the 1960s in search of religious freedom. Today, townspeople speak both Russian and English, and many still wear traditional Russian clothing.

Commercial fishing is the primary occupation, and villagers live a rural lifestyle. When asked why his mother didn't attend the scrimmage against Kenai, one player had a matter-of-fact response:

"She's probably slaughtering chickens again."

ATEAM IS BORN

Opportunities for extra-curricular activities are limited at the Voznesenka high school, which only has about 30 students, 15 of them boys. Until two years ago, the only sport offered was wrestling, a program started by longtime Homer football and wrestling coach Steve Wolf.

Eager to have something to do in the fall, some of Wolf's wrestlers asked about football. Despite the obvious challenges -- no field, no uniforms, not enough players -- Wolf said he'd try to figure something out.

Wolf contacted athletic directors at several small Kenai Peninsula schools with the idea of forming an eight-man football league. He said there was some initial interest from nearby schools, but not enough.

"We put together our team, and they didn't," he said.

Undaunted, Wolf got in touch with longtime Chugiak football and wrestling coach Duncan Shackelford, who by chance had just gotten some new equipment for his team.

Shackelford said helping the fledgling football team was a good way to help football grow in Alaska.

With enough pads to outfit the team, Wolf convinced the school district to pay for new black and gold uniforms, along with black helmets emblazoned with a golden cougar.

Now all the Cougars needed was someone to play.

FROM TEXAS TO TIKIGAQ

After coaching 24 years under the bright spotlight of Texas high school football, Gary Lamar needed something different.

As a journeyman coach, he had seen just about everything, working with six-man, eight-man and 11-man teams in dusty places like Marathon and Mexia, small towns where football is as big as basketball is in Bush Alaska.

"Any kind of ball in Texas is pretty serious, and they treat it real serious. I've lived through that for 24 years," he said.

When he heard Tikigaq -- also known as Point Hope, an Eskimo village located 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle -- was interested in following nearby Barrow's entry into football, Lamar jumped at the chance to head north.

"These guys gave me the opportunity to build something up here," he said. "I've never built one from scratch."

As fate would have it, Lamar's arrival in Point Hope coincided with Voznesenka's decision to give football a go nearly 800 miles to the south. A rivalry was born.

A NEW ALTERNATIVE?

As the name implies, eight-man football uses three fewer players than the traditional 11-man variety. A typical eight-man offense features two fewer linemen and one less back or receiver.

"It's really not that much different," said Wolf, who coached eight-man football in Idaho before coming to Alaska. "You take out the two tackles, take out one back and you run all the same plays."

The sport is popular in rural areas, especially in the western United States, where schools are long on enthusiasm but short on players. Minnesota Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway played eight-man football in high school, as did 1994 Heisman Trophy winner Rashaan Salaam of Colorado.

With more room for players to maneuver, the game is known for its up-tempo style.

"It's a track meet," said Shackelford, who has seen the game played Outside. "It's a great thing to watch."

Because it requires fewer players, eight-man football is an intriguing possibility in Alaska, where football has enjoyed a surge of popularity -- if not success -- at schools with fewer than 400 students.

Following the addition of football at schools such as Houston and Seward, a small-schools division was created in 2000 and this season includes 16 teams. Well-established football powers such as Kenai, Soldotna and Eielson -- schools with low enrollments but long football traditions -- have dominated, while new programs at smaller schools have struggled to gain a foothold, routinely getting blown out. Through six weeks of play, the average margin of victory in small-schools football this season was 33.2 points per game.

Glennallen athletic director Ron Langseth believes eight-man football could provide a viable alternative for schools with small enrollments. The Panthers, who last year played as an independent, abandoned football this season because they lacked players.

"With such a small school, it's difficult for us to be able to field a team," Langseth said.

Three years ago, when Voznesenka and Point Hope decided to go ahead with eight-man football, Glennallen was involved in the discussion. If other schools are willing to get on-board and form a league, Langseth said he'd be more than willing to reconsider the idea.

"If it could become a viable program, and if we could somehow raise money, I would be extremely interested," he said.

MOSCOW MEETS MADDEN

The biggest hurdles to eight-man football are paying for it and finding places -- and opponents -- to play.

Voznesenka practices in a small clearing behind the school or at Wolf's sod farm near Homer. The nine players -- there were 10, but one quit to go fishing -- practice against each other.

Finding competition has been hard. So far, the Cougars have squared off against junior varsity teams from Homer, Nikiski, Kenai and Skyview, picking up wins over Nikiski and Skyview, losing to Homer and giving Kenai a good run during a scrimmage.

Junior quarterback Joe Martishev Jr., who ran for a touchdown against Kenai, said football has provided a welcome outlet.

"It's a really great program to have out there," he said. "There's pretty much nothing to do except wrestling."

Despite the numerous challenges they face, the Cougars have learned that speaking Russian gives them an edge during games.

"A lot of times if we forget the play, I just tell 'em what it is," Martishev said.

Kenai freshman John Paul Turinsky played against Voznesenka and said the Cougars were a hard-hitting, disciplined unit. But listening to the team's audibles, delivered in Russian, was a bit disconcerting.

"I was kind of confused," he said. "They didn't even need to huddle."

Since the words for certain football terms -- "line of scrimmage," or "tackle," for example -- have no Russian counterpart, there is some interesting talk during a game. Voznesenka players shout to each other in a creole language that's a cross between Moscow and Madden.

Martishev's father, Joe Sr., said football has done wonders for his two sons.

"After school they go to practice, and by the time they get done with practice, they're pretty much zonkered out," he said.

Voznesenka struggles with students who drop out to get married or go to work, and the elder Martishev believes football could help keep kids in school through graduation.

"It's something different for our community," he said. "It keeps them out of trouble, for one thing."

Wolf said football comes naturally to boys in Voznesenka, where work begins early in life.

"They're tough, and they don't shy away from hard work," he said.

BLOCKING AND BOOKS

In Point Hope, keeping kids in school is also a big problem.

Lamar, who teaches history, health and physical education, said he's seen "an explosion" of interest in the sport, which has directly translated into better performances in the classroom.

"Because they're interested in football, they're having to work very hard to keep their grades up, which is allowing some to get to that point where they say: 'Academics? I think I can do this,' " he said.

Of the approximately 35 boys in the high school, Lamar estimated 75 percent have expressed an interest in football.

"We don't have enough uniforms," he said.

Point Hope plays against teams cobbled together from surrounding villages, but so far the Harpooners are the only team to field a regular team.

Last season, the Harpooners traveled to Anchorage, where they met up with Voznesenka in the state's first eight-man "championship" game. Point Hope won by a touchdown, and the school now proudly displays a championship banner in its gymnasium.

The victory sparked even more enthusiasm for the sport, and Lamar said his biggest challenge now is finding enough uniforms to outfit all the players who want to compete.

"We didn't expect this kind of an explosion this year," he said.

Point Hope and Voznesenka are planning a rematch in October. Although the game won't be recognized by the Alaska School Activities Association as an official championship, it will be considered an "invitational" championship, according to ASAA executive director Gary Matthews.

FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES

Joe Martishev Sr., who has watched his two sons become enamored with the game of football, believes eight-man could catch on elsewhere in Alaska.

"A lot of these smaller communities that don't have much kids will want to play once word gets around," he said.

And if that happens, it can only benefit the pioneers of the sport in Voznesenka and Point Hope, where young boys now dream of becoming NFL stars as well as successful sea captains.

"I'm certainly a believer in the fact that we need to look at things different here in Alaska," Langseth said. "Activities isn't about creating NCAA athletes, it's about creating opportunities for kids."

Lamar thinks eight-man is a natural fit for kids who grow up in the rough-and-tumble world of Bush Alaska.

"They love it. Gosh, any young man that gets into any contact sport, he's going to have a good time," he said. "That's the way guys are made up."

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Find Matt Tunseth online at adn.com/contact/mtunseth or call 257-4335.

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