Loughdmouthings

I’ve always been one to defend coaches about 97-98 percent of the time and official 98-99 percent of the time.

Coaches make decisions they believe in, and if one player screws up, kaboom.

Officials tend to have the worst viewpoint, and they call what they see. Almost all the time. Every so often, yes, we wonder what in the world they see. From this viewpoint, though, that’s pretty rare.

Calls are defendable. Poor administration, not so much.

And with that, let’s go back a week to the Perry-Baldwin game, and The Field Goal That May Not Have Been.

You can go back and see it here.

The official was stunningly out of position to make the field goal call. He wasn’t under the upright, at all, and that was clear from even a press box angle.

The Perry Panther Football Network video was mighty clear, and if you stop it, you don’t see the ball get in front of the upright. Even live, it looked wide. And then, good grief, the reaction of the players tells us everything: at the same time, Baldwin celebrates and Perry begins trudging depressed to the sideline.

Then, stunningly, the “good” signal. And both team go a different crazy.

No doubt the botching of the call was unintentional, but nevertheless, being out of position is pretty inexcusable. Should the referee, who is behind the kicker and certainly saw it miss, have stepped in and fixed it? Yes, because some of us think getting the call right as quickly as possible is important. But protocol may be mighty different.

Harsh reality? Last Friday night should have been that official’s final game of the 2020 season.

In this particular year, there’s a pretty big difference in the draws for first and second in Region 4. Perry gets Westover, player of only five games. Baldwin has Thomas County Central, winner of four games.

It’s not, though, the seed, per se, but how a team reacts from such a call in the final seconds of a game, with overtime seemingly inevitable.

Watch out, though. If Baldwin bows up in the first round and gets the frustration out of its system, the Braves may be miffed enough to make some noise. …

Peach County’s Chad Campbell was joined last week by Macon County’s Dexter Copeland and FPD’s Greg Moore are a in the 150-win club. Brentwood’s Bert Brown is at 147. …

It’s never too late to fix rosters and schedules and stats on MaxPreps. Win or lose. …

Moving games to Saturday was a necessity for the GHSA because of an officials shortage.

Odd, because coaches and fans make officiating so enjoyable, it’s stunning the Einsteins in the stands – or radio booths - aren’t more interested in giving it a try.

Of course, being in shape and grasping that pesky rule book get in the way. Much more fun to not know what one is talking about, apparently.

But get used to this situation, COVID or not.

One thing to watch is if teams make a little more money – such as that is in 2020 – by fans having a chance to catch more than one game on a weekend.

If you’re looking for short-travel doubleheaders this weekend, Friday/Saturday: Dublin/West Laurens or Dodge County; John Milledge or GMC/Baldwin/Putnam County/Hancock Central; FPD or Mount de Sales/Northeast, among others. …

Dear schools and teams: If you haven’t updated a website in a year, delete it or archive it. Ditto a Twitter account. Way too many teams have too many dormant accounts. Just kill it and start over when somebody will keep it going (Yes, worth repeating). …

Those pesky MaxPreps stats and updates.

Here’s the latest as far as 1,000-yard passers and rushers, and 500-yard receivers, and their state – albeit incomplete – ranking, such as they are:

Passers: 18. Blake Etheridge, Veterans, 2,084; 27. Travion Solomon, Northeast, 1,,797; 37. Lane Rucker, Perry, 1,636; 47. John Alan Richter, Jones County, 1,487; 57. Parker Ingram, FPD, 1,347; 64. Logan Hickman, Mary Persons, 1,325; 63. Jalen Addie, Warner Robins, 1,326; 77. Dominic Sasser, Bleckley County, 1,241; 79. Jakalen Williams, Macon County, 1,237; 107. Judd Puckett, Crawford County, 1,043; 114. Ja’lon Miller, Westside, 1.018; 115. Bradley Wilson, West Laurens, 1,016.

Rushers: 10. Jessie Phelps Jr., Rutland, 1,329; 16. Gavin Vining, Westfield, 1,232; 28. Lebron Fields, Veterans, 1,121; 31. Daylon Gordon, Dodge County, 1,093.

Receiving: 31. Jordan Jones, FPD, 737; 32. Justin McCarty, Veterans, 732; 45. Brandon Watkins, Northeast, 658; 80. Maleek Wooten, Jones County, 570; 97. Jaden Mobley, Bleckley County, 526; 99. Armon Porter, Warner Robins, 524; 101. Tyler Franks, West Laurens, 521. …

Dear Fridaynightgamecasters: Binoculars. One person talk/scream/cheer at a time. Please.

And for the love of God and Erk, the time and score and both teams’ names, all the blessed time. Seriously. …

It’s never too late to fix rosters and schedules and stats on MaxPreps (yeah, sorry, can’t say this enough. Example: Some local media spent a few days saying Heritage had a win. MaxPreps has Heritage with a win over Our Lady of Mercy.

Our Lady of Mercy canceled football this season, so there was no game. Because coaches have to input info, MaxPreps is a grain-of-salt website unfortunately.

Polls

Division I (6A, 5A, 4A)

1. Warner Robins (8-1)

2. Jones County (7-3)

3. Perry (6-4)

4. Baldwin (4-1)

5. Houston County (5-5)

Division II (3A, AA, A, GISA)

1. Peach County (7-1)

2. Dublin (9-1)

3. John Milledge (7-0)

4. Macon County (8-1)

5. Central (5-3)

6. Dodge County (5-3)

7. Northeast (7-2)

8. Washington County (6-4)

9. Bleckley County (6-3)

10. Putnam County (9-1)

Between cancellations and no surprises, things stay mostly put.

Yes, Northside beat Houston County, but polls aren’t about head to head. It’s only part of the equation. And even if both lose in the first round, it’s quite possible that Northside takes Houston County’s place.

Note that it’s mighty close with John Milledge and Macon County, another pair of teams that may flip very soon.

And it’s really tight with Central, Northeast, and Dodge County.

The next poll will be after the last Central Georgia team is done, and will include all teams in each division, and maybe one big ol’ GHSA and GISA poll.