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I originally posted this in the Officiating sub-Forum, but noticed that almost all of the activity was by other officials. The post is written for non-officials, so I moved it here in hopes of getting more looks. So, you go to your local school’s game Friday night. You see the officiating crew, but it’s unlikely you know anything about them. Are they good? Mid-pack? Novices thrown together for the occasion due to the shortage of officials? Here are some things to look for that observers see a lot, unfortunately. There are lots of little nuances that someone trained in officiating can spot, but you’re not going to appreciate. But here are 10 things you can notice from the sidelines, the stands, or perhaps even on TV or streaming, that will tell you whether this is a good crew that pays attention to detail or not. They are, in no particular order of priority or frequency: 1. Do the wing officials “square off” their forward progress spots? Proper technique, other than in goal line situations, is to trail the play up the sideline to the forward progress spot, and then move in perpendicular to the sideline. If that wing official’s route to the spot looks like a banana, that’s a sign of lack of attention to detail that doesn’t bode well for other calls. 2. Does the crew make timeouts look like a local officials’ association meeting? Everyone on the crew has a specific job to do during a dead ball interval. That is not the right time for the crew to all get together and chew the fat. 3. Is the sideline clean? IHSAA officials are under a very clear mandate to properly manage the sidelines. This means no coaches on the field itself at any time, except during charged or injury timeouts, and no one in the 6 ft. “restricted area” when the ball is alive. All coaches are fully aware of this. If the crew is lax in its enforcement of this directive, it’ll likely be lax in other areas as well. 4. Is the goal line covered? Goal line officiating is probably the greatest challenge for a 5-person crew. There is a complex set of mechanics associated with goal line officiating, but they all boil down to one thing: having someone on the goal line in a position to rule on a TD. It’s not easy, and it’s not always possible. But if a kid scores on an off tackle run from the 4 yd. line, and the wing official signaling the TD is at the 2, that’s a real problem. 5. Watch the two officials under the crossbar on a scoring kick (try or field goal). Are they talking to one another before the snap (they are supposed to be identifying eligible receivers and communicating that to one another)? Do they have to look at one another before signaling the kick? They shouldn’t. If the kick threatens an upright, and is above the top of the goalposts, does only the official on that side signal the kick? When both officials signal, do they do it in unison? Attention to details like these spills over into other areas of officiating. 6. Proper use of the beanbag is another such detail. Does the back judge use a beanbag to mark the spot where every punt ends, even if there’s a fair catch, or the ball is downed by the kickers? When the ball is fumbled, do the officials mark the spot of the fumble with a beanbag? Do they refrain from using the bag for marking the spot of a fumble behind the LOS? If a kick was “first touched,” did they mark that spot? 7. What happens during penalty enforcements? All 5 crew members have specific duties during the administration of penalties. Are all the officials moving with purpose? Or is administration left to the Referee and Umpire, while the other 3 crew members just sort of wander around? 8. Does the crew hustle? I see a lot of walking around some Friday nights. That sort of body language can be interpreted as lack of engagement, which can be fatal to your credibility. Good officials avoid it like the plague. 9. How many whistles blow at the end of the play? On most plays, two are plenty. One is better. Too many whistles means too many officials watching the ball … and not paying attention to other responsibilities. 10. How does the crew handle the ball? Proficient crews use well-established ball handling procedures designed to get the ball back in play as efficiently as possible. It’s done with a minimum of delay, and the ball doesn’t spend any time on the ground. Realistically, you cannot evaluate the crew’s performance in many areas without formal training and a better vantage point. But these 10 things to watch for will give you a pretty good idea of what you’re dealing with as a crew.

I disagree no book will prevent foolishness on Thursday night.

Not all coaches will agree on this one. I personally love when an official tells us, "That was a tough call here is why I made my decision." Or even better, "We may have missed that one." To this statement my response is always, "To this point we have coached a perfect game. We expect the same from you." So far they always get the sarcasm.

Game Day! Here is to a safe well officiated game for everyone!

Center Grove 63 Lawrence Central 41 Final(ly)

(Note to self: Label my self-satirical humor when in a HH thread next time) 😁 No, sir. I proudly gots me edumacation from the Land of Lincoln. That's a totally different state than Indiana. On a more serious note, how much to get one of those pavers for the HH Hall of Fame Plaza? I have a design idea and a bit of cash burning a hole in my pocket:

Because of my years in newspapers, I still keep my own stats while doing PXP.

Brah we are lucky to get lineups and stats online and our announcer mic cuts out the same time every game. “HERE COME YOUR J...P.. WIL.......TS” We put one of those cryo things in someone is getting electrocuted.

Mooresville at Plainfield 1989. I can tell you EVERYTHING about it. Conversely I couldn’t tell you what I was doing five minutes ago.

Do you remember your last IW? Of course you do! I remember mine.

Two unsportsmanlike conduct fouls by a player is a mandatory disqualification, requiring a written report to Asst. Commissioner Faulkens before the sun comes up the next morning, resulting in the player also being disqualified from playing the next week.

Reminds me of a scene with one of those traveling road shows and they hit a town where the crowd just doesn't appreciate the show and all of a sudden a volley of tomatoes comes in. Then another heavy wave and a third heavier wave. As the performers rush from the stage, being pelted by even heavier waves of tomatoes, the head actor questions, "Where the hell are getting all of those tomatoes from?"

I may be in the the minority, but either way, just my opinion: If there is a reasonable chance that B could regain possession and ultimately score to tie or win, then play the snap if you want, assuming both sides of the ball are on the same page and aware of the intent. If my team had the ball and the opposition wanted to fire out and try to get it? Go for it man, I'm not offended. I'm telling the OL to pass pro and and clench the win. That said... yeah, I'd prefer pack up and go home, whichever side of the scoreboard I'm on. I have work tomorrow and I'm probably wanting a strong drink by that point if I'm coaching a bunch of 12-13 yo's. I get the other side of the argument, too. It is traditionally a gentleman's agreement with taking a knee, let's accept the L and move on. And I'm no Schiano/Bucs fanboy either. I just don't see anything for either team to get upset about as long as each side and the officials are all aware of the intent. Otherwise, why is there a distinction of "9 or more points" regarding the victory formation? THAT I get, and 100% agree with. Nine points goes from a 1:100 or 1:1000 chance to... way, WAY bigger odds. Not sure how many zeros there, but probably a lot. That's no longer what I would consider a reasonable chance, and I think that's why the rule is written the way it is. Maybe we can petition the rules committee to make a new rule to completely take the snaps out of the equation: If the offense has ANY more points than the defense, the HC on the offense can throw up a Nixon-esque double peace sign and declare victory without snapping the ball, but only if the defense is unable to stop the game clock from expiring relative to the number of timeouts they have remaining. Sort of like the MLB four finger intentional walk. AND they have to yell "Winner, winner, chicken dinner!" when declaring the sans-snap victory, or the offense is penalized for "failure to declare chicken dinner". Not sure what the penalty for that would be... Seriously though, I get your frustration and I'm not dismissing it. Particularly when it comes to otherwise meaningless games at the MS level. Move it along, mini-Schiano, I gots me some bourbons to drink. 😂

It's turning into Johnson waving activity in some cases. Had a middle school coach tell me that they had a game in which they got wiped out. After the game, they were having their team meeting on the field talking about what went well and the many things that they needed to work on and the other team's players basically came over and kept circling their team. I'm appalled that any coach would allow his team to encroach anywhere near another team's meeting or gathering ... and especially with the reasoning, direct or indirect, of flexing/agitating/taunting.

What I’ve given you is also a way to recognize a proficient crew when you see one, regardless of whether people are b*tching about foul calls or no calls. Crews are going to be critiqued by everyone anyway. I’d just like to see them critiqued fairly.

I'm always excited for a game at The Jungle! And we finally have some football weather... double bonus!! Hope everyone stays healthy on both sides and looking forward to a battle. Good luck this evening!

See leather. The ball becoming dead causes the ball to become dead, not the whistle.

You guys have a poorly officiated game lately? Couldn't have been any worse than our game at Boonville. I had never seen anything like that. By the way I'm not blaming the loss on that...it was bad all over. Anyway moving forward....looking forward to hosting y'all tonight!

FYI, this is the portion of the Officials’ Manual that deals with Victory Formation. “3. When Team A is ahead by 9 or more points and can take a knee(s) to run out all of the remaining game clock, the officials will request Team A to declare its intent on whether they will be taking a knee. If Team A indicates they will be taking a knee, U and R will instruct all players that the play will be over immediately after the snap, and that all players should avoid contact, on pain of a foul and potential disqualification. However, if the snap is muffed, all bets are off, and it’s play football. 4. If the offensive team declares that they will be utilizing the Victory Formation to take a knee, and runs any offensive play other than a kneel down, the officials will rule this an unfair act under Rule 9-3-1, allowing R to enforce any penalty deemed equitable under the circumstances. This does not apply if the snap is muffed. a. In most cases replaying the down at the previous spot and resetting the game clock is an adequate remedy. b. Of course, Team B retains the right to decline the penalty and accept the result of the play. 5. If the offense muffs the snap or fumbles the ball while in Victory Formation, the ball is live and can be recovered and advanced by either team, as if Team A had not been in Victory Formation.”

So, you go to your local school’s game Friday night. You see the officiating crew, but it’s unlikely you know anything about them. Are they good? Mid-pack? Novices thrown together for the occasion due to the shortage of officials? Here are some things to look for that observers see a lot, unfortunately. There are lots of little nuances that someone trained in officiating can spot, but you’re not going to appreciate. But here are 10 things you can notice from the sidelines, the stands, or perhaps even on TV or streaming, that will tell you whether this is a good crew that pays attention to detail or not. They are, in no particular order of priority or frequency: 1. Do the wing officials “square off” their forward progress spots? Proper technique, other than in goal line situations, is to trail the play up the sideline to the forward progress spot, and then move in perpendicular to the sideline. If that wing official’s route to the spot looks like a banana, that’s a sign of lack of attention to detail that doesn’t bode well for other calls. 2. Does the crew make timeouts look like a local officials’ association meeting? Everyone on the crew has a specific job to do during a dead ball interval. That is not the right time for the crew to all get together and chew the fat. 3. Is the sideline clean? IHSAA officials are under a very clear mandate to properly manage the sidelines. This means no coaches on the field itself at any time, except during charged or injury timeouts, and no one in the 6 ft. “restricted area” when the ball is alive. All coaches are fully aware of this. If the crew is lax in its enforcement of this directive, it’ll likely be lax in other areas as well. 4. Is the goal line covered? Goal line officiating is probably the greatest challenge for a 5-person crew. There is a complex set of mechanics associated with goal line officiating, but they all boil down to one thing: having someone on the goal line in a position to rule on a TD. It’s not easy, and it’s not always possible. But if a kid scores on an off tackle run from the 4 yd. line, and the wing official signaling the TD is at the 2, that’s a real problem. 5. Watch the two officials under the crossbar on a scoring kick (try or field goal). Are they talking to one another before the snap (they are supposed to be identifying eligible receivers and communicating that to one another)? Do they have to look at one another before signaling the kick? They shouldn’t. If the kick threatens an upright, and is above the top of the goalposts, does only the official on that side signal the kick? When both officials signal, do they do it in unison? Attention to details like these spills over into other areas of officiating. 6. Proper use of the beanbag is another such detail. Does the back judge use a beanbag to mark the spot where every punt ends, even if there’s a fair catch, or the ball is downed by the kickers? When the ball is fumbled, do the officials mark the spot of the fumble with a beanbag? Do they refrain from using the bag for marking the spot of a fumble behind the LOS? If a kick was “first touched,” did they mark that spot? 7. What happens during penalty enforcements? All 5 crew members have specific duties during the administration of penalties. Are all the officials moving with purpose? Or is administration left to the Referee and Umpire, while the other 3 crew members just sort of wander around? 8. Does the crew hustle? I see a lot of walking around some Friday nights. That sort of body language can be interpreted as lack of engagement, which can be fatal to your credibility. Good officials avoid it like the plague. 9. How many whistles blow at the end of the play? On most plays, two are plenty. One is better. Too many whistles means too many officials watching the ball … and not paying attention to other responsibilities. 10. How does the crew handle the ball? Proficient crews use well-established ball handling procedures designed to get the ball back in play as efficiently as possible. It’s done with a minimum of delay, and the ball doesn’t spend any time on the ground. Realistically, you cannot evaluate the crew’s performance in many areas without formal training and a better vantage point. But these 10 things to watch for will give you a pretty good idea of what you’re dealing with as a crew.

Well learned two things tonight…that Heritage Hills’ 2 minute offense just means their QB sprints to the sideline after each play instead of a leisurely stroll. And Willowdale Nursing home in Dale supplies the officiating crew!

The PA Announcer must be the teacher from the old Charlie Brown cartoons.

Congratulations Coach Fry

21-14 Laville. Knox has ball on their 48 with 2 to go and 2 timeouts.

Roncalli 31 Brebeuf Jesuit 14 final to clinch Circle City Conference title. Luke Hansen finished with 266 yards on 41 carries and 4 TDs.

The offense was the thing that worried me about this game. Oh well. Just gotta take care of business and not overlook Jeffersonville or BNL. Both have the ability to beat us if we play offense like we did tonight.

Scripted by haydock..took the first gut punch pretty well

@Fkfootballand @Fogertyputmeinyall will have to keep me updated in here. Ill be away from the radio for a while.

I always gotta laugh seeing comments like this. As if there aren't kids at private schools who are there solely because their parents are making them.

1 of paper = 4 of Coin Game... jackpot! Watching John C. Reilly probably makes me more stupider, but he cracks me up.

Sure is an awful lot of tropical geography in southern Indiana. I thought it was mostly corn fields. 😁

We enjoy using it in our pregame shows at WBDG.

I will be at the Reitz game. Updates from the bowl since I know that everyone will be on pins and needles to find out.

I hear Chasper is budgeting on one for 2048. Everything will be prepaid, preinsured, and bought used.

I would much rather have a play with no whistle than an inadvertent whistle. When you have one there’s not a hole deep enough to crawl in. Plus it’s going to hit you in the pocketbook after the game.

Yep. When I'm in the booth writing, looking at the wing officials foot helps me get a yard marker about five seconds early for the spot. (Stat taking should be covered in a required sports writing class for all journalists)

Of course it's quiet, when Eastbrook and Ole Miss aren't rolling over their CIC opponents there is nothing to talk about, like "what conference should they go to to give the other schools an opportunity to win". Other schools are winning and the Panthers and Indians are losing. All is good in CIC Country. Alexandria at Mississinewa ©, 7 pm Closer game than some might think - Alex by 7 Blackford at Eastbrook ©, 7 pm Eastbrook by a lot. Good game to start getting everyone healthy if needed. Frankton at Oak Hill ©, 7 pm Oak Hill by 4, Touchdowns Madison-Grant at Elwood ©, 7 pm MG JV play the 3rd, Freshman in the 4th. Good luck to all teams! Safe travels to all!

No disagreements that schedules are done years in advance. But the fact remains that the Wolverines schedule has been very weak so far. Is that a big deal? I don't think so. They play in the Big 10 East. They will face some stellar competition Also, they travel to Iowa....while not the best Iowa team offensively, they do have a tough D and its never easy winning in Iowa City. No will debate about their schedule at the end of the season. They will earn their outcome as they face the meat of their schedule....and it will be a grinder.

Can we bitch about Jasper’s visitor locker room next? Add on already!

LOL. Obviously you don't know. We went to state three years in a row and won twice without any of those players. Rode has only played 3 games. Please give us the names of the "many others". Make no mistake, we are happy to have such high-character kids in our school.

14 sectionals 9 regionals 5 semi states 3 titles not a bad post season history either, I gotta go

This two week stretch is just a momentum killer. A bye week into a J/V game 2.5 hours away. The flow of the season has been abysmal. I'm praying we can re-ignite the fire. Cincy LaSalle, Brebeuf, Center Grove, another Bye, then a brutal stretch for the title. The boys aren't getting much flow. I'm kinda sad that the seniors (and Mr. Football guys) don't get to strut their stuff for the stats/voters. Jaron Tibbs is the finest receiver in the state. A possession receiver and touchdown toss-up guy that always wins (i.e. Mike Evans). Or, Brennan Wooten, the Western Michigan recruit wrecking ball in the open field that has had to share TDs with so many talented WRs the last 3 years. Or Kendrick Gilbert, the one-man disruption machine (think Ed "Too Tall" Jones from the old school Cowboys). It has surely been a weird season. We have the horses to win it all. No question. But can we lasso that momentum from a herky jerky season with our weakest competition in a decade? If we do, it will be Coach Peebles finest season ever. War Irish.

You can’t have a conversation about 3A without mentioning West Lafayettes. STATE LAW

MD typically fills the visitors bleachers when they are the home team against Reitz. I've sat in the both ends of the bowl as well. Doesn't seem to by any animosity among the MD fans about sitting on the visitors side.

Looking like a cool 65 degree kickoff. Maybe some s’mores for tailgating.

I watch crews for many of these things every game. I’m almost 40 now, but officiated from when I got out of the Marine Corps (age 24) until I got a job that prevented it on Fridays (age 30). I still miss it and keep telling myself when my youngest (10) is out of high school I’m getting back in to it.

Stevie Nicks is such a badass she wrote an entire album about how her ex sucked, then made her ex play the music and sing about it.

Exactly. I grew up in the evangelical school community - I went to Bethesda Christian in elementary school and two of my siblings graduated from there, and was attending church at Traders Point when Covenant Christian began (largely to serve the kids in the Chapel Rock, Kingsway and Traders Point congregations - the three very large westside Independent Christian Churches). Most of the evangelical Protestant Christian schools are Baptist (but there are a couple of Christian Church-affiliated ones - Covenant and Traders Point in the Indy area). For years, none had football and it seemed to be - at least in the circles I ran in - that it really wasn't part of the church culture. I always thought soccer was the "church kid" sport because that was the featured fall sport at every evangelical school I was aware of. Then Heritage Christian started a program. Lutheran - which was more established as a school and obviously comes from a mainline denomination, but was still very small at the time and seemed to be an athletic peer of many of the evangelical schools - started one. Then Covenant and Traders Point. All have been very good for the visibility of the school and have led to enrollment jumps. Heritage, Lutheran and Covenant have all won state titles. Traders Point now sits in Whitestown, right there to absorb some of the religious families in the area. There could come a day when Faith Christian - which is a Baptist school - starts football. But it and LCC are *not* pulling from the same families. Faith's students are most likely to be from evangelical families. LCC's students are most likely to come from Catholic ones. There might be some overlap between "voucher" families who simply want their kids to have a private school education, but I'd think it's fairly small. We're probably more likely to see a new program from an existing school - like a Faith Christian or Covenant Christian-Demotte - than we are to see a new school created out of nowhere (or an 8-man program like Waldron bumping up to 11-man). It seems the wave of new charter schools has slowed, schools seem to be slow to split (if they split) because the cost of building a new high school and all of the attendant facilities (new stadium, gym, baseball field, softball field, soccer field, auditorium, natatorium) is *substantial.*

2 Point Games Benton Central @ West Lafayette - The Bison are much improved but still not a match for the Red Devils Hamilton Heights @ Twin Lakes - Huskies travel to the land of the Indians (isn't this all the land of the Indians?) and get the W Tipton @ Northwestern - Purple Tigers are no match for Indiana's only Blue Devils 3 Point Games Cass @ Western - I am least sure of this pick after the Western win over HH last week, but I'll still take the Kings Rensselaer @ Lafayette Central Catholic - Knights rule on the Bermuda grass. The Bombers get shot down West Central @ South Newton - Tough pick, but I'll take the Trojans in a high-scoring game North White @ Caston - I'll have to go with the Vikings as the Comets seem to have nose dived Covington @ Park Heritage - The Trojans put it on the Wolves. PH has struggled and it won't end here Fountain Central @ Seeger - I'll take the Indians Patriots over the Herbies Harrison @ Lafayette Jeff - Since Foxbat is affiliated with Harrison I'll take them over the Bronchos Kankakee Valley @ Lowell - Lowell has a much better SOS than KV, so I'll go with the home team