The football world was abuzz Monday night, when Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers marched down the field and eventually kicked a game-winning field goal as time expired to beat the Detroit Lions, 23-22, at Lambeau Field.
Some late-game magic from Rodgers? Hardly a significant event, the guy has done it for years now. The real uproar came as a result of two illegal hands to the face calls against Detroit defensive lineman and former Patriot Trey Flowers that prolonged the Green Bay drive with first downs.
Replays showed very little, if any, illegality from Flowers — mostly shoulder grabbing, if anything. This was a specific instance where officiating, and poor officiating at that, directly impacted the result of an actual NFL game, according to the angry mobs on Twitter.
Officiating critiques are hot in the streets in 2019, some of it for good reason, some largely an exaggeration and chance for dramatic hyperbole. But it’s a real problem throughout the sport, largely due to an improved instant replay system that allows fans to see every angle of every play. Was the officiating just as bad 30 years ago and maybe, just maybe, our Zenith color TVs didn’t offer quite the same perspective and vantage point?
We introduce the officiating conversation as a jumping off point for high school football in 2019. High school coaches interested in talking about officiating, at least on the record, is the proverbial third rail. As much as you may want to wax poetic to the press about blown calls in your game, doing so will likely only lead to bad things for you in the long run.
It’s now Week 7 of the WMass high school season, and you’d imagine the sample size to discuss officiating is large enough to make an educated judgment: it’s just not good enough.
For the most part, officiating hasn’t shaped game outcomes for Franklin County schools, at least not directly. That wasn’t entirely the case last week, however, when a blown call significantly impacted the Frontier-Greenfield nail-biter at Vets Field. An inadvertent whistle, as it was framed by the officiating crew after several moments of discussion, negated what would have been a defensive touchdown for the Green Wave. Frontier retained possession, and ultimately won the game by a 14-8 margin to remain atop the Intercounty League North.
Greenfield coach Mike Kuchieski didn’t want to get into the officials afterward (see above, and the “bad things”), but here was a case where poor officiating — and there was plenty to go around both ways in the Frontier-Greenfield game — directly impacted a scoring play, which could have ultimately made the difference in a win versus a loss.
Talk to coaches throughout Western Mass. and they’ll agree, though not on the record, that this year has been as bad as they can remember when it comes to officiating in the area. Is it an influx of new officials still getting their feet wet? Somewhat. Is it the most difficult sport to be an official for? Probably, though basketball officials would like a word. Whatever the reason or reasons may be, it’s a problem at every level from the youth ranks up to the NFL. And it’s not going away. We can only hope that moving forward, close games (there have not been many this season — see the growing number of shutouts involving area schools) will not come down to one or two judgment calls that leave hollow feelings in the pits of stomachs throughout Franklin County and beyond.
Tangent over. Here’s a closer look at the games on the slate for us in the Recorder area for this fine Week 7:
Franklin Tech (2-3, 2-1) at Frontier (4-1, 4-0), 7
If the Frontier offense can establish a passing game, watch out.
The Red Hawks have been a run first attack all season — quarterback Garrett DeForest attempted just 12 passes through the team’s first four games — but last Friday, Frontier opened up the playbook with DeForest tossing seven completions, five to Donovan Hoffman, as the Red Hawks won a 14-8 nail-biter against Greenfield.
With an already dangerous ground attack, led by Franklin County’s leading rusher Ito McMillan (624 yards, 5 TDs), Frontier’s offense is rounding into form at the right time.
That attack will be tested against a feisty Franklin Tech defense tonight. The Eagles have two shutouts on the season, and have surrendered more than 20 points just once.
Greenfield (2-3, 1-2)
at Mahar (3-2, 2-1), 7
How will the Green Wave bounce back after a heartbreaking loss on their home field a week ago?
Greenfield travels east across Route 2 for a huge matchup with Mahar at the Woodward Complex tonight, and this one could be particularly important with both teams fighting for Division 8 playoff spots. Entering tonight’s games, the host Senators sit in the No. 5 spot in the Power Ratings, just 0.08 points out of the last playoff spot currently occupied by Lee. Greenfield sits in the No. 8 spot, but three wins to close out the regular season could make things very interesting for the Wave.
Mahar routed Monument Mountain a week ago, rolling to a 41-7 victory in Orange. The Senators rushed for over 300 yards in the win, and they’ll need to find success on the ground tonight if they want a shot at opening IL North play with a 3-1 mark.
Greenfield has an edge on the lines, and the visitors will look to use a veteran unit up front to create big holes for backs Shane Kilgour and Jared Hart.
Mahar’s Jacob Tenney is the No. 2 rusher in the Recorder area this fall, racking up 471 yards on the ground through five games. His eight rushing touchdowns are tops in the area.
In last year’s meeting, Greenfield rode the legs of tailback RJ Byrd (271 yards, 3 TDs) en route to a 36-12 victory at Vets Field.
The Wave have won four in a row in the series, with Mahar’s last victory coming in 2015 (26-14).
Ware (4-1, 3-0) at
Mohawk Trail (3-2, 2-2), 7
What happened to the Warrior offense? After looking like a near juggernaut through stretches in September, Mohawk’s attack has cooled like the autumn air, getting shut out against McCann Tech two weeks ago before not being able to find a rhythm in Palmer last week.
Following a 268-yard, three touchdown game through the air in the win over Smith Voke, quarterback Shawn Davenport and the Warriors haven’t been able to get much from the passing game. They didn’t have to throw in a blowout win over Pathfinder, but in the shutout loss to McCann, the junior QB was 6-for-19 through the air for just 38 yards. With a running game that’s gone stagnant through two losses, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Mohawk Trail revisit the passing game in hopes of getting a spark from the offense.
The positive for the Warriors has been the defensive side of the ball, where they’ve allowing a mere 8.8 points per game through five weeks. That stubborn defense will face its toughest test of the season tonight, as Ware sports one of the more explosive offenses in the Tri-County League, averaging 31.6 points-per-game.
The Indians come into Friday’s contest ranked as the No. 2 team in the Division 8 Power Ratings, and figure to be one of the toughest tests Mohawk Trail faces this season.
Athol (0-5) at Drury (4-1), 7
It doesn’t get any easier for the winless Red Raiders with a trip to the Berkshires tonight against the Blue Devils in an independent game to be played at Mount Greylock Regional School.
Quarterback Caleb Cox, running back Keegan Lutz and wide receiver Jacob Smith will look to turn around Athol’s offense, which has been shut out in four of the team’s five games this season. All told, the Raiders have been outscored by a 170-12 margin this season.
Drury has won four straight games and is ranked third in the Division 8 Power Ratings. The Red Raiders are last out of 12 teams in the ratings.
The Blue Devils added to their roster this season, co-oping with Mount Greylock. Drury has two reliable ball-carriers in Dante Woodson and Louis Guillotte. Quarterback Keegan Vidal threw two touchdowns last week in Drury’s 57-0 win over Smith Vocational in Northampton.