TALLULAH, La. — Tallulah Academy is losing three starters on the field this year, but it isn’t due to transfer or graduation.

The Trojans are moving to eight-man football for the first time in school history as they look to compete in an environment more fitting to the academy’s small roster size. The move comes after a 1-8 season in 2013 in which Tallulah struggled to hang with bigger programs that possessed more abundant resources. Head coach Greg Bigham believes the switch is the shot in the arm his squad needs.

“This has been a lot easier. It really has. Now you have more kids to do what you want to do, and we tried to create a scheme around the type of kids that we have,” Bigham said. “I think the kids have bought in to what we’re trying to do. They like what we’re trying to do. It’s fun.”

Bigham hangs his hat on defense, but it’s his newly implemented no-huddle offense that is turning heads in preseason practice. The spread is a fairly new concept to eight-man teams, but the second-year coach believes quick throws and a balanced rushing attack will bring the Trojans success in their first eight-man season.

“We think the biggest advantage we’ll have is being no-huddle and playing at a fast pace. We’re not real complicated formation-wise right now, but I think we’re a little bit difficult to get a read on what we’re going to do,” Bigham said.

Tallulah was a ground-oriented team that ran the double wing in 2013. Bigham has set out to even the scale and ease the load of flyback Zach Boney with his new spread-it-out approach. The Trojans are deep at the skill positions and the new eight-man league will complement that as they attempt to light up the scoreboard and put games out of reach.

On defense, Bigham has installed a 3-3 stack with two safeties up top that play close to the ball and can also act as extra linebackers. Tallulah gave up 30.5 points per game last season and is hoping the new scheme will lessen that number in 2014.

“We’re kind of an aggressive defense. We take some chances and things. My philosophy defensively has always been making an offense do what they don’t want to do,” Bigham said. “I’m not a sit and wait guy. I’m an attack guy and try to get them out of their comfort zone, so that’s what we’re going to do.”

Perhaps the biggest change of all, however, has been in the weight room, where Bigham and his son Justin have implemented a new conditioning program they say is light years ahead of what it was last season. Justin Bigham was a tight end at Ole Miss for five seasons and has brought what he’s learned in Oxford to Tallulah.

“He’s brought some good ideas and different things they did conditioning wise and stuff, so we’ve changed up some of those things,” the elder Bigham said. “And X’s and O’s wise he’s had some good ideas, so we’ve meshed some stuff together.”

It’s been a smooth transition for Tallulah Academy so far, and the Trojans are hoping that will translate to marked improvement on the field in 2014.

“I feel like we were learning as we’re going, learning the eight-man game a little bit and trying to implement some things we think we can do with the personnel we have,” Bigham said.  “We think we have the kids that can do what we want to do, so we’re excited. We’re ready.”