Where's my mouthpiece?

Scrimmage number one, Saturday, 4 September, 2004, 9:00 a.m.
Farmingdale at Garden City High School

Farmingdale (7-3 in 2003) had been to the Nassau Conference I Final, four out of the previous five seasons. Garden City (11-0 in 2003) earned their eighth trip to the Long Island Championship Game in twelve seasons. Those were two of the top three teams in the county.

I arrived at the site about half an hour early. Another official was already there and was dressing for the scrimmage. We exchanged some small talk. I wasn't feeling nervous and had done some preparation, which I'll discuss in my next article. The referee of my new crew arrived with two other officials. Two of the members of my varsity crew were unable to make this scrimmage.

My referee thought it would be a good opportunity for him and me to get familiar with each other working the middle. By 9:30 a.m. we had met the coaches and were on the field. One of the other officials was an Umpire on another crew and had agreed to work behind me in the Back Judge Position. At the time our Varsity Crews were four-man crews, and we did not usually have a Back Judge except in the playoffs.

Continued...