Bobref

I have an example closer to home. My last year on the field I worked the North-South game in July. It was a 7 man crew. I had worked 7 only a handful of times in my entire career. But we had no problem in the game. Of course, there are going to be some mixups. But I believe with officials of that caliber, the benefit of increased coverage outweighs the risk posed by the unfamiliar mechanics.

In fairness to the IHSAA, their unwillingness to add officials in the upper levels of the playoffs is not irrational, or based on some silly reason like economics. There are sufficient numbers of very good officials sitting home after the sectional final for us to go to crews of 7 at the Regional level and above. The IHSAA’s unwillingness to do so is based on the belief that adding two new officials to a crew, in the most important games of the season, that has been working 5-man mechanics all season, is unwise. There is no doubt that 7-man mechanics differ in a number of important ways from 5-man mechanics, including positioning, movement, keys, and coverage responsibilities. You can disagree with the IHSAA’s conclusion that the risks of such a change outweigh the potential benefits. But that’s a judgment call on their part.

Fields playing great so far (end of 1st period), even though the OL is employing the “sieve” blocking technique.

Agreed.

And to think, I got downvoted by @temptation for this. Ironically, he’s the one who introduced me to the concept of keeping “receipts.” Quarterback Danny O'Neil decommits from Colorado The Indianapolis (Ind.) Cathedral passer had been a verbal to Deion Sanders and the Buffaloes since March. Indianapolis (Ind.) Cathedral quarterback Danny O'Neil has decommitted from Colorado, backing off a verbal to the Buffaloes he gave back in March over Illinois and others. O’Neil was especially close with Colorado offensive coordinator Sean Lewis, but with the change in responsibilities within the Buffaloes program, that altered the way O’Neil looked at the program. Northwestern is in the mix for O’Neil moving forward led by the efforts of offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian. Wherever Lewis lands next could also be a major factor for O’Neil who ranks as 247Sports’ No. 34 quarterback. “The landscape of college programs and coaches will be dramatically different by midweek,” O’Neil’s father Mike told 247Sports over the weekend. Cincinnati, Houston, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisville, Purdue, Syracuse, Toledo, Tulane and Wake Forest were among the schools that also extended O’Neil a scholarship the first time he went through is process. The 6-foot, 185-pound O’Neil has been one of the Midwest’s top signal-callers the last three seasons. In his time as a starter at Cathedral he’s won a state championship and threw for 7,786 yards and 98 touchdowns, completing over 62 percent of his attempts. O’Neil has also rushed for 1,326 yards and 27 more scores. “He’s an incredible competitor,” Cathedral head coach Bill Peebles said. “Incredibly intelligent. Obviously has great arm. Great accuracy with it. A complete deal.” O’Neil competed in the Elite 11 Finals this summer.

I really thought this fiction had been thoroughly debunked.

Unless, of course, Fitz needed a few years as a buffer at a place like IU to put some distance between him and the hazing scandal.

What!!?? @Rodneywas wrong??? How can that be? 😅🤣😂

Friday was 15,000 something. Didn’t hear Saturday’s.

I think that one’s a miss.

Anyone else get a better view of the play in the corner of the end zone where the BD receiver caught the pass but was ruled out of bounds? I didn’t see the covering official give a “juggle” signal. That’s the only thing I could come up with, because it looked like a catch from where I was sitting.

No.

CP having trouble dealing with BD’s athleticism. That, and multiple false starts.

You say that like it’s a bad thing.

I thought the 2A crew continued the fine showing the officials have had this weekend. Only knock would be the R needs to practice his announcements. He’s obviously uncomfortable with the microphone.

The 2A crew seems to be having another nice game … knock on wood. Full disclosure: my brother is the linesman on that crew.

Yeah, we’re undefeated since the Crusades.

Never mind that. Everyone, please join me in wishing @JustRules a Happy Birthday!

Correct.

Field goal for NP. 7-3 Luers. 7:45 of the 2nd.

7-0 Luers 7:52 of the 2nd. NP 3rd & goal on the 13.

Final 26-3. Eagles move on to the championship game against Springfield, the team they’ve beaten in the last 2 championship games. It’s a real “Lutheran vs. Adams Central” deja vu all over again. Springfield came from behind to beat Moeller in OT. CalPreps projects an Eagle victory by a comfortable margin. I’ll settle for 1 pt. PROJECT A MATCHUP neutral field [2023] St. Edward (Lakewood, OH) 31 (94%), [2023] Springfield (OH) 7 (6%)

Just an outstanding job by the 5A crew. Two things stuck out to me: The way they handled the intentional grounding call should be made into a clinic video. The Referee held the spot of the pass. The wing official came in to communicate that the pass did not make it to the neutral zone. The Umpire confirmed there was not an eligible in the area. The R then dropped the flag. Textbook. The unfortunate kerfuffle on the DC bench area following the interception at the end of the game could have been much, much worse. But the crew acted quickly, assisted by the coaches, to isolate the two trouble spots, and then moved in to shut them down. Great job by veteran officials who did not get rattled by the situation.

Snider has 2 TDs. One on a 1-play 80 yd. "drive," and the other on a 2 play, 95 yd. "drive."

I just looked at MaxPreps live score updater and it said they were leading Hilliard Bradley 14-3 at halftime. Are you sure of that score?