High School Football Weekend-Week 8

80 degrees the second weekend in October is not normal here in Ohio but I'll gladly take it. It was homecoming for our game this week so we hit the field early to talk with the coaches.

Everything went smooth so we were able to do the coin toss early and get out of the bands way.

Time for kickoff.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened on this night with the exception that we had to sprint the length of the field back to back plays. The home team ripped off a 70 yard touchdown run. But the visitors followed that up with a 90 plus kickoff return for a touch. I thought, oh boy here we go. Howerver, both teams settled down a little bit though after this.

Score was 17-7 , but the visitors hit a long touchdown pass right before the end of the half as the defender jumped a hair early and the ball went right over his outstretched arms into the receiver's hands to make it 17-14.

Our White Hat's game management was right on point and the game just flowed. Both sidelines were great and it was nice to be able to concentrate on the game completely and not have to worry about everyone on the sideline creeping up to close to the field and getting in the way.

In the end the home team pulled out a victory with a 24-14 final. Even though I had a college game the next day, I had enough time to go out to eat with the guys.

Next week we're off on Friday but we have a dandy of a game on Saturday night in the Pit.

Special Thanks to SKC Productions Photography for the pics!

College Football-Week 5

Whoa Nellie last Saturday was one of the strangest games I've ever done. I was the visiting official with the crew I had the pleasue of joining in week 1.

This was a fun game to do.

The first score was by the home team and it was for a 97 yard touchdown pass in the first quarter. After this is where the game got strange.

The visitors couldn't get a consistent flow on offense and the home team stayed in the redzone all day. The home team reached the redzone probably at least seven times and got inside the 5 yard line about three times. They did not score on any of these instances. They had a field goal that hit the uprights, a bothched snap or two, and another field goal late in the third quarter that was blocked and returned 95 yards for a touchdown.

So at the end of regulation it was all tied 7-7. So we were headed to overtime. The visitors won the toss and chose to have the ball first. They end up scoring and go ahead 14-7. Home team's turn and they convert a clutch fourth down. A few plays later they score a touchdown and it's 14-13. The all important extra point is next but it ended up being a problem between the hold and the snap. Ball game.

Both teams played extremely hard until the end. It was fun to be a part of this game.

After the game, we hit the showers and the Observer comes in to give us some honest feedback. That is always nice and we genuinely want it because it will only make us better. Let me say I love receiving honest feedback. I take it to heart and very serious.

The feedback for this game was good for everyone.

So that's it for this game and I'll be with my regular crew for the following week.

High School Football Weekend-Week 7

A good Friday night match-up with possible playoff implications. The home team is 4-2, the away team 6-0.

The game is downtown and while I was headed there the traffic wasn't the greatest. So I leave work early to make sure I get there in plenty of time. I'm the first one there so I get with one of the trainers right away and get my ankle taped.

Slowly the rest of our crew start to trinkle in. Once they all arrive we get started on our pregame. During the pregame the chicken at the concession stand smells out of this world. Anyway back to the game.

It's time for kickoff. The road team breaks a long run for a touchdown early in the game and goes for two. They are successful and the score is 8-0. For the most part the visitors are in control the whole game, but it's still a game. I had five flags in the game.

Now one of the strangest things happened in this game. Our Head Linesman is a very easy going kind of guy. We have been on this crew together for five years. I have NEVER seen him get upset. Not at a coach, not at a player, and not at a fan. But the guy that was running the box with the chain crew is a referee and he had our HL on fire. The box man wants to do Varsity games but I guess hasn't been successful with landing on a crew.

It's in the fourth quarter and the offense has the ball at about the 12-yardline with 1st and 10. The defense ends up getting a 15 yd facemask penalty on the play. Our umpire walks of the yardage half the distance to the goal so now it's 1st and 4 on the 6 yd line. But we notice that the chains are laid on the ground and only the box is up showing first down. Our H has the chain guys grab the sticks and get them back in the proper place. So we're ready to replay first down. Next thing you know our H is blowing is the whistle and stopping the game. I start chuckling to myself because I figured out what is going on. The guy on the box was giving our H a hard time and yelling at him saying it should be first and goal because of the facemask. Our H explained to us after the game that he was trying to speak to him nicely and explain that in high school football a 15 yd facemask is not an automatic first down. The guy would not listen so our H had to stop the game to get him to be quiet and quit yelling onto the field and yelling about the play. NO WAY! CLASSIC!

We joked around with our H in the locker room about it. We've had coaches go off, fans get upset, players mad, and none of them never got to him, but a referee on the box gets under his skin. Truly classic.

In the end the road team ended up on top with a 16-0 victory. Didn't get to eat any of that chicken and I had to head home since I had to be at it again the next day for college ball and didn't get to eat with the fellas. The rest of our crew will be doing a high school game on Saturday night.

College Football-Week 4

Back at it again after a week off from the college game. I love Saturdays.

It was a different kind of weekend for me. After reffing my high school game on Friday night I met one of my fellow crew mates so we could drive halfway up for our Saturday game. Kickoff was at noon, but we had to be in the locker room by 9:30am for pregame. The kicker is that the game was over three hours away.

In the end it all worked out. Four of us met north of Columbus and had breakfast in the morning and then traveled the rest of the way to the game and met up with the other three.

We were well on pace with everything. After our pregame our Referee and Umpire went to meet with the coaches and came back with a trick play that one of the teams plan to run. We made sure we were all on the same page and our Referee went back to the coaches to make sure there was no confusion on what they could run within the rules. Nice work!

I got the captains at 11:55am and we're ready to rock. Kickoff noon sharp.

We got a good competitive game from the start. About halfway through the first quarter after a score, I happen to look and see our Line Judge talking to someone near the endzone.

It's Lebron James. Sometime later in the first half I'm in position in the corner of the endzone and Lebron James is literally sitting a couple of feet behind me. This is the second time I've seen Lebron behind me at a game.

Second half is really competitive as well and I have two flags in the game. One of my flags was one of the easiest calls I ever made. But I would like to see the second one on film and see the play again as it was a close play. I'm always trying to do my best and do whatever it takes to improve.

In the end the visitors win by two in a well played competitive game. It's time to hit the road and head home. Our Side Judge was really ill and sucked it up and did a nice job as usual. I had to drive most of the way home because he was drained.

Next week I'll be at again but I'll be a visitor again on the crew that I subbed with for week 1. It's gonna be fun!

Friday Night Football-Week 6

It was a great night for high school football.
I wasn't trying to be flag happy in this game by any means, but I guess that's just how it happens sometimes.

I had 8 flags in the game and about five of them were offsides. The visitors were very disciplined. The QB was changing up the snap count and they didn't come close to a false start one time.
It was a two point game at the half but by the end the visitors won by sixteen.

I couldn't join my crew for dinner after the game since I had an early college game the next morning.