November 16, 2007 - 5A State Championship - Alta v Layton

Chad Broderick - BJ, Richard Jones - R, Craig Adams - HL, Rusty Allen LJ, Duff Astin - U

I got a chance to see my lovely wife Pam on the field before the game started. That was a very meaningful moment to me. As much as I love to officiate, I loved having her there to share it with me. Thanks Pam. Love you.

The game itself was supposed to have been a blowout but I had other ideas of a closer game with Layton being the spoiler. The opening kickoff didn't disappoint as Layton ran it back for a touchdown. It was a tight defensive contest and Layton's offense couldn't put any points on the board. Final score Alta 19-7.

This was a great season... we only had one day of cold weather all year. The finals were played in 60 degree weather (all but the late game), and it was announced as the largest crowd ever to watch a high school game in Utah but later in the paper was reportedly the 2nd largest. Over 19,000 people to watch a game. It was fun but it sure was a big fish bowl.

I'd like to thank all the people I worked with this year. I had a great time with all of them... ok.. a few were not the best but I enjoyed this season more than any I can recall. Thanks to the great friends that have helped me along the way. I am ready to switch positions to become a full-time referee now.

Nov 8, 2007 - Timpview vs Mountain Crest

Craig Adams - HL, Richard Jones - R, Russ Carter - U, Doug Golding - LJ, Chad Broderick - BJ
Amazing couldn't describe the weather we are having this year. It was short sleeve weather all day for me and with only one week left in the season, we might just get lucky again next week. This game was a wipe out. Sad to see at a semi-final but Timpview totally dominated the game from start to finish. We had a running clock for the entire 2nd half but since the game was being broadcast live on KJZZ it still took over 2 hours. Final score 38-0 for Timpview. Great day for games and great people to work with. It doesn't come much better.

Nov 3, 2007 - Rich vs Enterprise

Craig Adams - HL, Bruce Stokes - U, Gene Van Orden - R, Gene 'Jeffrey' Blair - LJ, Evan Quilter - BJ
What a day for football. Perfect weather and a great field. This was a semi-final game between Rich and Enterprise where Rich prevailed but gave the ball away far to often and Enterprise just never seemed to get things going. The final was 20-7 for Rich.

Video Test

This is just a sample of a video.. as if anyone was reading this but myself...

Craig

Oct 26, 2007 - Timpanogos vs Northridge

Craig Adams - HL, Rusty Allen - LJ, Bob Krommenhoek - R, Bruce Stokes - U, Chad Broderick - BJ

The playoffs are here! Andre Kirilenko and Ronnie Price from the Utah Jazz dropped by at the game. Later, we found there were many Jazz players at various playoff games today. Today was the most unbelievable weather for October 26th I've ever seen. It was a great day and probably the funnest game I had during the year thus far. We had not only a great crew, but a lot of offense and action on the field. I was surprised to see Timpanogos move the ball so well against Northridge. After a scoreless first quarter... we had 7 touchdowns in the 2nd quarter. The 3rd was scoreless and the 4th was Northridge giving up too many turnovers which Timpanogos capitalized on by scoring twice and winning 42-26.

Oct 23, 2007 - Playoffs and the man behind the camera

My neighbor and best friend Ralph Hulse has come to every varsity game this year and has been taking pictures for our games as well as attending state playoff games for a few years now. I would venture to say he has listened to about 30 varsity pre-games and in a pinch we could suit him up at a moment's notice. Thanks to him, I get to relive and share my experiences through photos. But, today, as he does have a real job, like the rest of us, he was not able to make the play-in game between Fremont and Clearfield. Here's to Ralph and for all of his assistance. He actually takes vacation so he can attend the playoff games.

The two teams had just played on Friday and it turned out almost an identical game with Fremont winning 33-14. I did not like the 4 pm start as not only did that not allow Ralph to get there, I had to deal with the sun so badly in the 4th quarter I was praying they would not throw the ball my way as we were moving to the south. I was totally blind while following the receivers and the flight of a pass. Craig

Oct 21, 2007 - JV Crew finishes up

The Ogden association assigns everyone that can work to a JV crew. We work together all year and it is nice to have the chance to work either another position or meet new officials. This year I was blessed with a very strong JV crew: Chris Reid, Matt Richards and Mark Elkins. All seasoned officials that made working much easier that many years past. I hope to get a picture of us posted soon.

Oct 19, 2007 - Woods Cross vs Skyview

Kelly Brown - U, Kent Beyer BJ, Craig Adams - R, Dan Chase - HL, Gary Evans - LJ
I thought we had probably too many penalties as a crew. The weather was crisp but very pleasant as long as you were moving.
Woods Cross played tougher than I thought but lost 22-12 to the league leading Bobcats.
Playoffs start next week!

October 12, 2007 - Bountiful vs Roy

Dennis Laughter - R, Craig Adams HL, David Pedrazas - BJ, Joe Day - U, Ryan Dickson - LJ


I would like to dedicate this entry to the men and women in the armed forces. We were fortunate to have two of them return from within our ranks as officials, and I was privileged to work with one tonight: Joe Day. He had been in Afghanistan away from his family fighting a war that enables people like us the chance to go out on a Friday night and put on the stripes and it sure brings home what is most important in life: Life itself and the myriad of family and friends we hope to have.

Thanks Joe and Scott Kibler, just two of those that give us freedoms most of us take for granted. Thanks to God you both came home to be with your families and with us again on the field.

It kind of just makes moments like this seem in-consequential.
By the way, Bountiful won 37-14. The game was very quick.. a bit chilly at first, but a wonderful night and a great crew with which to work.

October 5, 2007 - Morgan vs. Logan

John Braun - LJ, Jack Arrington - U, Dave Christensen - R, Craig Adams HL, Joe Marelli - BJ
It was a dark and rainy night... but not as cold as I thought it would be. It drizzled most of the game and Logan won a sloppy game 17-3.

Sept 28, 2007 - Fremont vs Weber

Craig Adams - HL, Rusty Allen - LJ, Bruce Allen - R, Drew Weidman - U, Clarence Jones - BJ

The game was close until about the middle of the 2nd quarter. The 3rd quarter saw Fremont pull away with 3 quick scores and a final 37-7 victory. The teams we well disciplined. We felt walking the gauntlet after the game to get into our locker room was a potential problem but we stayed together as a crew and nothing happened to talk about. My sideline was especially quiet but with Coach Monkres sitting out a game and the score in their favor, they were fairly somber in their demeanor. The weather was perfect although the wind was brisk at the onset.

Sept 21, 2007 - Morgan vs Ogden

Ron Haycock - HL, Craig Adams - R, Steve Johnson - U, Dave Storey - LJ, Wyatt Cole - BJ

Both teams played tough, but Morgan just had more horses and came out on top 24-7. We had too many penalties to count and the game did seem to go long, plus it was homecoming so it made for a longer night than usual. The weather was the best of the year and the mountains blocked the usual western setting sun. Great night for football.

Morgan has some new construction in progress and when finished, will have an officials room in the new addition. They were very hospitable to us and the drinks at half time were very much appreciated.

Sept 14, 2007 - Layton vs Davis

Craig Adams - HL, Mike Reimer - LJ, Dave Christensen - R,
Justin Nelson - BJ, Bruce Stokes - U

Layton is for real. They had a tough defense and a sharp offense to hand Davis a 21-0 defeat. There was a nice crowd there and the sun is finally starting to set early enough to see the game when facing into the western sky. Dave C. was doing his first varsity game since foot surgery and albeit a little ginger, seemed to move just fine.

Sept 7, 2007 - West Jordan vs Taylorsville

Tim Carr - U, Cameron Jackson - BJ, Grant Nielsen - R, Jim Kilburn - LJ, Craig Adams - H

Taylorsville held a 14-0 lead at half time, but couldn't get things going in the 2nd half and gave up 19 points to West Jordan. I was surprised at the crowd... or the lack thereof. The field was a little tight on the sideline due to the space allotted and the chain link fence holding them from going back further.

August 31, 2007 - Bear River vs Box Elder

Curtis Germany - LJ, Jerry Everett - U, Steve Wallerstien - R, Clarence 'CJ' Jones - BJ, Craig Adams - HL

The game was not as I expected, but Bear River was off to a rough start this year. There were 3 close goal line plays that if they had converted would have tied the game at 14 in the 4th quarter, but Box Elder held them. The Labor Day holiday made traffic pretty busy getting north of Roy, which is not common, but we all made it on time. Thanks to Jill in the snack shack for the pizza and drinks at half-time. The 'Spike' game ended with Box Elder beating Bear River 21-7.

Aug 24, 2007 - Viewmont vs Lone Peak

Chris Reid - LJ, Tad Campbell (mr clean) - BJ, Drew Weidman - U, Matt Mills - R, Craig Adams - HL

One of the true passions I have for the game of football is the sun in my eyes when I am positioned as a Head Linesman. Most fields in our area run north and south, thus for the first half of the game I have to battle getting a blast of sun in my eyes while the rest of the crew wonders about perhaps their tan being uneven. All kidding aside it's still a blast to see what game you've missed in the first half.

August 17, 2007 - Roy vs Syracuse

Syracuse vs Roy - First Game ever for Syracuse High

Rick Brenkmann - HL, Chris Reid - BJ, Craig Adams - R, Brian Davies - LJ, Steve Johnson - U

We were the lucky ones that someday will be able to say, 'we did the first game at Syracuse'. The game started out sour for Syracuse as Roy ran back the opening kickoff and cruised to 41-6 victory. I was surprised how well they did play for their first game as Roy didn't really pull away until the fourth quarter.

How it all began

I am a football official. I have officiated from little league to Jr. College but I love doing high school football. I started officiating in junior high school doing intramural basketball for our football and P.E. coach, Bernie Yoacham. He was the guy that started me on my road to officiating. (That's Bernie on the picture above on the right). I didn't really like having to call games with guys that I had to sit next to in another class later on in the day, but it taught me a lot of lessons that one can only learn from having been put in that situation. Life is tough. Tough calls sometimes go for you but for the most part they go against you. Learning to live with it was what he taught us.Just before our last 9th grade football game of the season, Bernie took the 9th graders aside in the cafeteria and told us that for a lot of us, it would be the last time we would ever suit up in football gear again. Some might go on to college, but he was honest in saying it would be a miracle if even 1 made it to a pro team. (He was right, no one ever did. In fact only a few played college ball at all from a team that was undefeated that season.) He told us if we loved sports and wanted to stay close to the game, to start officiating. It was only later, that I would learn to appreciate those words. Now, as a man of 47 with 15 years of football officiating experience, I can see not only the wisdom, but the honesty in those words. I do love the game of football and I am glad to be a part of it today.