Oh, To Be An Athletic Coach (Cont)
Screen 4 of 6Of course, we were outplayed, but one thing in particular hurt our team in that game. A local referee whom I had recruited for the game just the day before made a very bad call. Since I knew he was not well versed in football rules, I talked to him in advance about some recent changes. Especially did I call his attention to the new rule against "backfield in motion." Well, he remembered this point very well and called it decisively at a crucial moment. When Littleton had the ball on our twenty-yard line, he blew his whistle, stopped the play and declared that "South Hill's backfield was in motion." He was right; our backfield was in motion but at the time we were on defense, not offense! While he was walking off the ten-yard penalty toward our goal, I protested the call so vehemently that he penalized South Hill another five yards. From there, Littleton had little trouble making the final five yards and a touchdown. When I later explained his error to him, he listened but I could tell by the puzzled look on his face that he didn't understand what I was saying.
The next three games were disasters for us. We lost all of them, one by a shutout, the other two by decisive, one-sided scores. In the first of the three, the referee--this time a well qualified official--ruled that our well conceived hidden ball play was illegal, a violation which cost us long yardage in the penalty. In explaining his decision, he said with a broad grin to our quarterback, "You ought to know you can't hide the football under your tackle's jersey. That's illegal!"
In the second game of this trio of consecutive defeats, another unfortunate thing happened. When several defensive linemen were allover our backfield late in the second quarter, a confused South Hill ball carrier ran sixty yards in the wrong direction and scored what at first was called a touchdown for the opposing team. When I insisted that it should be scored only as a safety (two points) and not as a touchdown (six points) the official score was changed accordingly; but we were penalized fifteen yards, effective on the ensuing kickoff, because of "the South Hill coach's obnoxious language," the referee ruled. It really wasn't I who caused the trouble, but apparently the official didn't know that. Actually it was an angry sports booster standing on the sideline behind the South Hill players' bench who walked onto the field holding some paper money in his outstretched hand and then hollered something to the referee. I didn't hear exactly what he said, but it was clear he was offering that official some money with the insulting suggestion that it be used to buy a license so that the referee's mother and father could get married!
I repeat to the reader that I did not make that remark, even though I would have been tempted to do so, if I had thought about such a clever way to call someone an uncomplimentary name. In any case, we were penalized fifteen yards, and eventually we lost the game.
It was becoming increasingly obvious to everyone that our season would not be a "winning" one. At this point, with a miserable 1-4 won-lost record, we were all discouraged, some of the boys about ready to give up and quit. Only two more games were scheduled, and our chances of beating either of the last two opponents were not at all good. But one day after practice, one of the players said jokingly to a teammate in the locker room, "Why don't we schedule Clarkesville again. We beat them once. Maybe we could do it again." Everyone howled with laughter. "Sure, why not?" several replied.
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