Are there any officials from

[aoaoffish]

the Permian-Odessa area on here? I was just wondering what the atmosphere was like to officiate in those games. I officiate in a small town in Southwest Virginia, football is huge here, the towns practically close down on friday nights. But, I'm sure it doesn't compare to that of Permian or Texas High School football.

[TXMike]

Odessa's stadium (Ratliff) holds 19,300 but when they go standing room it can go over 20,000. The Midland-Odessa "metroplex" is a hotbed of HS football but what goes on there is matched by most all other areas of Texas, except for the inner city areas of Dallas, Austin, Houston and San Antonio where there are sometimes more players and band members than there are fans in the stadiums.

There is a little town called Wall which is out in West Texas (suburb of San Angelo). Working games there always blew my mind. There was one red light in town and a population of maybe 400. But when the lights came on the place would fill up with 1500 - 2000 folks. I never understood it.

What town are you in? I am looking for a HS game to watch on Fri Sep 9 in Lynchburg/Roanoke area.

[aoaoffish]

If you are going to be in the Roanoke area, look for either a Salem game or William Flemming game. Either one of those should be decent games to attend. Salem is the defending state champs in AA. They graduated some of their talent, but usually field a good every year.

I'll try and check their schedules and post another reply.

I'm in Richlands, Va. It's about 2 1/2 hours west of Roanoke.

[dodgerwv]

I would suggest Giles at Christiansburg. It's about 30 to 40 minute drive from Roanoke. C-burg has a solid program, but Giles would be the main attraction. They've been a state contender in Class A and have are usually very good versus bigger competition because of their single wing offense. If you've never seen a single wing, it's a blast to watch Giles execute. It's just not fun to officiate with all of the ball fakes and deception.

[aoaoffish]

I gave Salem since it's right there in roanoke.

I officiated Christiansburg this year at a jamboree, along with Gate City, Powell Valley, and Lebanon. Christiansburg was the class of that scrimmage, no one there compared to them.

I played against Giles, their single wing will blow your mind when you are on defense.

[TXMike]

Thanks guys. Looks like there are several good options.

[dodgerwv]

Even though it's a bit of a drive, I figured that Giles-Christiansburg would be pretty unique for our Texas visitor. Know that there aren't too many people run offenses like Giles. Good luck in the AOA this year from just across the border in Princeton.