High School Football-Week10

Thursday

We had some Thursday night football on our hands. The game involved rivals vying for a spot in the playoffs. Defending state champ for Division II and a Division I school trying to get the last spot in it's region.

The game was televised and there was a good crowd on hand. Unfortunately our Back Judge did not join us for the final weekend but we had an excellent back up in place.

Our pregame involved speaking to a television representative so we were all on the same page for tv timeouts. It's amazing how much extra this adds to the game of responsibility. For example I needed to look at the tv guy every time we had a score, timeout, or change of possession. There was an instance that I forgot but thank goodness we weren't going to commercial.

On with the game.

The visitors got the ball first and went three and out. On the punt, an assistant coach got a little to excited and was on the field. So right away I have our first flag on the home team's sideline. He later came up to me and apologized.

The home team wasted no time with putting points on the board. Their first drive ended with a long touchdown run scamper and we were on our way.

Their next drive ended with a highlight reel touchdown. The Qb hit the receiver with a simple short pass and it looked like he would be dropped right away. Instead he did a little Emmitt Smith like spin and and cut across to the other side of the field for a long touchdown. It was a true highlight reall TD. Just like that it's 14-0.

With only a few seconds remaining in the first half and the home guys ahead 21-0, they completed a long pass to the back of the end zone for a touchdown. Our BJ was in perfect position and smooth mechanics. Nice work Joe!

Dominate first half by the home team as they took a 28-0 lead at the half.



Second half started out the same way as the first half ended and it was quickly 35-0. Then the fun began. TV timeouts, scoring, flags. Then there was more scoring and more scoring. There was a stretch in the fourth quarter where it seemed like it took 20 minutes but only 2 minutes had be run on the game clock.

Well even though the home team was in control the whole game, the visitors never ever quit. They put on a show themselves with some big plays and tried there hardest to mount a comeback.

What an absolute fun game to officiate!

I had a play in the end zone that seemed clearly to me that the pass was intercepted. I later found out that the commentators didn't like the call and thought it was a dual possession and should have been ruled a touchdown. It's cool, they have there right to there opinion and plus I don't mind being corrected if I'm wrong. Always want to improve and get the call right. After seeing the play on tape I still have no doubt that it was an interception.

Once again even though the home team was in control from the start, the game stayed in doubt for just about most of the game. In the end the final score was 56-34.

Nice healthy game of exciting football.

We hit the locker room and have our final regular season game the following night. I think I've enjoyed this season the most so far out of any that I've done!

Special Thanks to Joe Fuqua for the pics!

Friday

Oh boy. Here we go.

We have been blessed with awesome weather for this whole football season. This night was a little chillier than others and it had rained all day.

However, it wasn't to chili for football and once we got moving we felt great. Our regular BJ wasn't able to join us once again but our HL's son joined us and did a nice job filling in. This was his third game with our crew on the year.

Our game featured a 9-0 visiting team that was visiting a 5-4 team. I'm not even going to talk about the sideline I had to deal with on this night. I try to keep this blog positive.

The host school jumped out on top 7-0 and were fired up! They controlled the whole first half. With about a minute to go the Qb fired a laser of a bomb down my sideline and the receiver was able to come up with it. It was an Awesome play! At the end of the half they tried a field goal but came up short.

The second half was a different story. The visitors ran all shotgun plays in the first half but brought the Qb under center and just pounded the ball old school. It ended up being a comeback as they won 24-13. The victory sealed the one seed for their division and region for the playoffs.

It's been a long season but I'll miss getting together with the guys on Friday night. The comaderie, the laughs, the tough calls, all of it was great.

Something I didn't mention when I first started this blog. I suffered a serious injury in the offseason reffing in the Arena Football 2 league. It seemed at one point that I may be done officiating for the year.

I Thank God, Thank Him that I was able to officiate this year. I pray he forgives me for anytime that I took it for granted. I had to miss the first week of high school because of this injury. But when I walked out on the field in week 2 for my first game of the season, I almost teared up. It really makes you appreciate the privilege and opportunity to do what we do and do it with the guys we ref with.

I miss my Friday night crew already. It's ok, I'll see some of them on the basketball court.

Good luck Woody and Chris in your playoff game this week. I have a dandy of a playoff game myself with a different group of guys this weekend.