I worked three games this weekend each with a little drama.
JV
I don't even remember the final score of this game because I slept through most of it. It was lopsided and dull and the five spectators in the stands sucked all the energy from the stadium. Ok, it was Halloween night, but don't these boys have parents to watch them play?
I ran into a coach on my sideline more than once. I should be throwing flags for this -- sideline interference, but they were in the coaches box and this field was poorly marked. No excuse and I should not let them get away with it, but I didn't feel like killing these guys. They were getting murdered on the field.
Late in the forth quarter they finally did score a touchdown. Number 58 was illegally down-field. We didn't penalize them.
Then close to the end of the game, there was a pass in the end zone to my sideline. A great pass, a great leaping catch... the receiver landed with both feet on the sideline. I ruled TD anyway... the heals of his feet hit inbounds first... or so I said. Whatever, they still lost by 30 points.
Varsity
This was my second 11-man Varsity White Hat of the season. I was told before the game this was Senior Night since this was the last home game for the Seniors. So, they did that thing where all the Seniors meet their parents on the field and give them flowers. This took forever.
The game started out as a fairly close contest, but quickly turned into another one-sided affair. At half-time the score was 28-0. Neither team scored in the 3rd quarter. Then, in the 4th, things got interesting.
At 6:50 in the 4th the losing team scores. Now it's 28-7. We decided to move-up to cover an on-side kick. Good thing we did, because that is exactly what they did and they recovered the ball. At 5:28, they scored again. Now it's 28-14. They on-side kick again, but do not recover. But they smell blood.
The winning team now has the ball around midfield, but the Quarterback is sacked three times and they need to punt. The losing team is fired-up. This is an important defensive stand. They have the momentum. This is like a frickin movie.
Then it happens. While the punter is kicking the ball the defender creams the kicker. A huge roughing the kicker foul. The ball went a mile straight-up in the air. The potential blocker said "I touched the ball". No way. Even my Umpire said the ball went between his hands. The coach wants a conference with me. "Didn't he touch the ball?" I retort, "I did not see him touch the ball." "Ok", he replies. He must have seen in my eyes I was absolutely confident I was right.
Well, this completely took the wind out of their sails. This is a 15-yard, automatic first down penalty. Three plays later the offense scored making the final score 35-14.
As far as running the game there were no issues and I felt comfortable. I think I am ready to become the next Crew Chief.
The college game report will be in the next post.
