SAN DIEGO COUNTY FOOTBALL OFFICIALS ASSOCIATION - THE WEEKLY BULL – November 6, 2024
It’s Playoff Time – We are using a brand-new playoff seeding system which may lead you to scratch your head a bit, but it should produce extremely competitive games. The top 64 ranked teams in MaxPreps made the playoff unless they were “bumped” by a conference championship team ranked lower than #64. The top 4 are the open bracket, the next 1 are the D1 bracket, and so on. The games should be exciting and played at a higher skill level than in previous years at the lower divisions. As always, one team advances and one team’s season ends. We must respect that. Prepare extensively for your game. Be cohesive as a crew. Trust your crewmate. Do your job!! Remember, you earned this assignment; our assignor has faith in you and your work. Don’t let him or the Association down. More importantly, don’t let the players, teams or the game down! Be professional, demonstrate presence. And have fun!!!!
1st Round Game Assignments are Out – If you received one, please accept it asap. If you have a chance to go to a game, go out and support your fellow officials. Adult tickets are $12. Senior (over 60) and students (5 to 18) tix are $7. Association passes are not acceptable, but you can enter with the crew. Volunteer to chart fouls!
Wilson Football Must Be Used in All Playoff Rounds – Teams may use any Wilson football of their choice, but they must use a Wilson football in all playoff games this year. The Wilson football must be in use throughout the game (not just on kick offs)
SD Football Officials Youth Fund Game Check Weekend - The Winning Crew this year was the David Hardage crew. Many thanks to the SDCFOA for their support of the Youth Fund. We had a great fundraiser again this season. Thank you!
Golf Tourney & Banquet – Our banquet will be this Wednesday, November 1st at 6:00 pm. Make sure you attend as you’ve already paid for your dinner. And don’t forget to send in any stories you may have to Bob Hood. The banquet is located at the Admiral Baker Golf Course in Mission Valley just off of Friars Road.
Equipment Checks – We are all to continue with the pre-game survey of teams and their legal uniforms and adornment. Keep providing those cards to the coaches and stay on this effort. We must continue in a consistent manner throughout the playoffs. Face Paint, Back Pads, Arm and Leg Bands (unless to prevent injury). Towels, and of course Knee Pads.
Knee Pads – Some players are wearing the smallest knee pads possible, then placing them at the top of the pant pocket and rolling up the extra pant underneath and up the thigh. This is illegal as the knee pad will only fully cover the knee if pushed down…then it pops up again. Send them out telling the player and the coach that he must ‘unroll” the knee pad and the pant. You can also point that out to them in the pregame and most know to unroll them.
Roughing the Snapper – “A defensive player shall not charge directly into the snapper…” I’m seeing film where the defensive tackles are both in the A-gaps and both make significant contact with the snapper. This is a foul for making illegal contact with the snapper. I’m no talking abut “brushing into him”, I’m talking about knocking the center immediately backwards onto his back and landing on him. Don’t we tell them “Stay off of the center”? We must protect that player.
Fix Formation Issues Early – We need clean and fair neutral zones and legal formations with tackles, tight ends, and split ends up on the LOS. Then we need a clear definition of WRs who are back off of the LOS. Work with players and head coaches to clean this up early in the game. We do not want a bunch of neutral zone infractions or illegal formation fouls. We certainly don’t want IDPs or OPIs as a result of not helping them early! After these early efforts, sometimes a penalty must result if they are not responding. Tackles must be up. WRs cannot cover up a Tight End!
Kickoff Time – Sometimes we seem to be the only ones sensitive to the game clock and kicking off on time. We are a patient and professional group, but there are times when the visiting team is standing in the cold waiting for the conclusion of some ceremony or introductions. Work with the home team AD and stick to the time schedule.
Not Enough Varsity Uniforms – Most teams like to bring up underclassmen to the varsity level during the playoffs. It is a great honor for those kids, but sometimes a school runs out of the varsity uniforms. Please be flexible as most of these athletes will not see the field anyway and as long as they are relatively uniform, we should be good to go!
Film – I’m doing the best I can to get film during the playoffs, but the teams are no longer required to add their games to their League Pools. So, if I’m successful, you will get a film. If not, then no film. I will encourage teams to share with us so we can evaluate our efforts, mechanics and judgments. Wish me luck!
Ejections – If a player is disqualified during a playoff game, the same reporting requirements exist. Please notify Steve Coover if an ejection occurs during your game.
Touchback – Remember in high school football the positioning of the player’s body relative to the goal line makes no difference when determining if a kick has reached the endzone for a touch back. In high school, only the position of the ball relative to the goal line is considered. So, if a player is in the end zone and reaches back into the field of play and bats the ball backwards to prevent the ball from crossing the goal line, the ball will be marked dead in the field of play where the ball ends up. As long as the tip of the ball does penetrate the front edge of the goal line, the ball is still live!
Shifting from the Punt Formation – We discovered a team that was in scrimmage kick formation, including the use of the numbering exception, and then shifted into a QB sneak formation. He was correctly told that if he was using the numbering exception for his punts, shifting into a regular scrimmage formation would make the formation illegal as he would have less than 5 players numbered 50-79 on the line of scrimmage. This would apply to either of the two legal scrimmage kick formations (punt and PAT/FG) when using the numbering exception.
Weekly Instructional Video – I will continue to send a Weekly Instructional Video for the next few weeks. It is a quick way to share ideas and officiating concepts and principles…and I hope fun to watch. I hope you will continue to watch games live during the playoffs if you’re not assigned. Come out and support your fellow officials as they work these extremely important games! You will always learn something new and useful. See you at the games!
Sportsmanship Winners 2023 – City Conference Pt. Loma HS; North County Valley Center HS; Coastal Conference The Bishops School; Metro Conference San Ysidro HS; and Grossmont Conference Valhalla HS. Each school will be awarded a trophy from the SDCFOA and CIF, a large banner to hang in their gym, and a $1,000 check for their football program. All of this will be presented to school representatives at the Division 1 Championship Game on Saturday November 30th at 7:00pm (halftime) at Southwestern College.
