What states play/don't play middle school football

[HLin NC]

NC has middle school football. The state HS athletic association is not involved in its administration. The state Dept. Of Public Instruction regulates it.

They use state certified officials. We use it as a training ground for newer officials/position changes. Some games will have a running clock 5th quarter, 15-20 minutes before kickoff, for the scrubs. We are not involved in the 5th quarter action in our area.

In some areas where there are not specific middle schools, there are K-8 schools. In those instances, a MS team is formed by a school or group of schools in the county.

40 or so years ago, we had the junior high system. Then we had 7/8 teams and separate 9th grade teams. 9th graders are now on JV's.