The first game of the 2009 NCFL season ended much like most of last season's games -- a one-sided contest which was essentially over before the end of the first quarter. This was very disappointing. If you look at the box scores, this was the moost lopsided game this week. It is difficult to remain focused during a game like this.
There were three Safety's during the game all against the losing team. I don't believe I ever worked a game with three Safety's. I can go an entire season and never see a Safety. Unfortunately for the losing team, they spent most of the game on their half of the field.
As a crew we found using the NFL/NCAA rules a bit challenging, but there were never any serious issues where a rule conflict caused a problem. A few on the crew a primarily high school officials, so these rules are even more challenging. We make a few mistakes, but no one noticed.
For example, during a play, 3rd and three as I recall, the offense gained four yards for a 1st down. The defense was offside. Since the offense made a first down, we just assumed the offense would decline. We should have gone previous spot, marched off the five. We shorted them a yard. Not a big deal - this team ended-up winning 63-6. So, a big whatever.
We had a holding call on a play that ended with a pass to the sideline. We did not get the information whether the holding occurred before the pass was completed or after. We (White hat and I) didn't ask either. We marched off ten yards from the flag. This mistake short changed the losing team since this would have push the offense back maybe six more yards. Again, I am assuming the holding occured before the completion of the pass and not after. If it was after, then we did it right.
As for my performance, I threw two holding fouls against winning team - a take-down and the second was arms outside the frame with a twist. There were a few other occasions where I may have had a holding, but these were often not at the point of attack, or they did not bust open the run. I'd love to see these on film.
I also threw and Illegal Player Downfield. This is a NFL rule. During a Scrimmage Kick (punt) only the two outside players can go downfield before the ball is kicked. The long snapper for the losing team streaked down the field after snapping the ball.
Player behavior was improved over last season. If this was a high school or college game, there would be some more flags on the ground for Unsportsmanlike, but overall, not too bad. There were some of the typical 'whiners', but every game, at every level I've worked, has crybabies.
As of this writing, I am not scheduled to work next week, but I'll have a posting.
