Reverend Ref +

1st and 15

I did my first 6-man football game today. Oh man .... did I ever run. For those of you who don't know anything about 6-man football, let me give you a little run down.

First, EVERYONE is eligible, with the exception of the player who receives the snap (yes, there's a rule that actually says, "The receiver of the snap may not catch his own pass unless it's been touched by a member of the defense."

Actually, that makes it fairly easy on me because I don't have to keep track of numbers.

Second, typical scores are something like 65 - 73. However, this game was an oddity in that at the start of the 4th quarter, it was 12-6. The home team finally put the visitors away and won 26-6.

Third, due to a death in the family, we were missing one of our crew members. So we did the game with three officials. I covered ALOT of territory today. My legs are somewhere between "sore" and "twitching." The rest of me just wants to be in bed.

Fourth, in the 6-man game, it's never 1st and 10. It's always 1st and 15. Today I worked the line judge position. That means that I'm on the opposite side of the field as the chains. Let me tell you, when I looked across the field at those sticks they were A LONG ways apart.

All in all, it was a good time. Small school, way down in SW Montana (almost Idaho, actually), mountains all around. And I only made two calls that really upset people. Better yet, I didn't make any mistakes. Well, I made one, but it was minor and didn't affect the game and nobody even noticed.

I think it's time for bed now; I wouldn't want to sleep through church tomorrow.