(8-19-22) The traditional start of high school football season in Ohio use to be a Friday night…but that is changing quickly with a shortage of officials.
Last night (Thursday) Ohio saw a large number of games played around the state-
WEEK 1
Aug 18 – Thursday
- LCC 27 Shawnee 7
- Columbus Grove 34 Pandora-Gilboa 23
- Tiffin Calvert 26 Mohawk 9
- Ontario 21 Lexington 17
- Whitmer 41 Toledo Start 6
- Carroll 25 Dayton Ponitz 19
- Fairfield 41 Wayne 24
- Columbus South 32 Cincinnati Woodward 30
- St. Charles Prep 48 Northland 28
- Ashland Crestview 49 Loudonville 14
- Edgewood 15 Conneaut 14
- Glenville 25 Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary 0
- Fairless 31 Sandy Valley 0
- Taft 32 Roger Bacon 0
- River 52 Marietta 22
Saturday night will also see the number of games expand during this season and most likely over the years to come.
The shortage of qualified officials is an issue around the country.
CBS SacramentoA shortage in referees is forcing high schools to shift their schedules. Many people say that treatment of referees by adults is the reason for the shortage.
Larry Kendrick, commissioner of the Northern Virginia Football Officials Association, told 7News sports –
“I had to inform 14 schools that we were going to renew contracts with, in order for us to officiate those games, they would have to either move to Thursday or Saturday because I just don’t have the people,” Kendrick told Abraham. “I’m under contract for 22 games every Friday. Last year, I had as many as 31 games on a Friday night. We usually have five officials per game, but last year, almost every week we had to use four officials for a varsity football game on a Friday night. With the spread offenses and the run and shoot offenses, it’s very difficult for four officials to handle that game.”
Stateline Sports Network 