First Time Varsity R: Advice

[bisonlj]

I had to fill in a couple years ago as a white hat and the following happened:

Inadvertent whistle on a fumble that had been picked up and returned for a TD - the H said the whistle came after B gained possession but I think it came before (B coach still complained that he didn't get the TD and I didn't mention that he technically shouldn't get the ball)

Ejection for a player that had 2 PF on the same play and the second one was an elbow to a throat that caused the ejection

2 hour lightening delay that caused the game to be finished the next day (from the other discussion, the subsequent lightening was far away but since we still saw it we had to delay even though the weather was great at the field)

Live ball PF on the defense during a TD play - enforced on the KO per the new rules in 2007

While explaining that to the B coach (same guy who had a player ejected and "benefited" from the IW) with my back to the field, A lines up in scrimmage kick formation, snaps the ball and attempts the XPT (my U didn't stand over the ball) - should have ruled illegal snap and penalized them 5 yards but we just lined up and re-kicked; they missed resulting in a 6-point lead for A with only a few minutes left

During the subsequent KO I had the A coach upset with me because on the first kick (which was an illegal snap) a team B player came in and knocked down his kicker; of course I didn't see that because I was talking to the A coach at the time! He claims the kicker missed the 2nd attempt because he was injured and it was my fault for not protecting his kicker! He also mentioned they now had only a 6 point lead and could lose if the other team scored a TD and XPT. I was really hoping that wouldn't happen and it didn't.

The bottom line is I remained calm through the whole thing and enjoyed the experience. It's a great memory for my first varsity game as a white hat. Don't get overexcited and use your knowledge and experience to officiate the game. Since you've R'd JV games you already know it's one of the easiest positions during the play. Enjoy and good luck!!