2019 Mt Calm Scrimmage: Mt Calm, Trinidad, Oglesby, Parkview Christian

I arrived in Mount Calm, and as I turned the corner to the field, I could see all kinds of activity. The stands and parking lot were buzzing with people, and the field had players warming up. The sight just made the heart pound a little faster and the adrenaline flow. Football season is here! I pulled in and parked and headed out to the field to catch the coaches before the real action started. They were all in a festive mood, and I had caught them all at the right time. I managed to get all their interviews one right after the other and get in a quick visit with them. 
 
I headed back to the car and got my equipment and to the sidelines I went. I met a couple of Mount Calm fence guys and asked them for their thoughts about the upcoming season. They were excited and felt like this season will be a good one and better than the last one. I saw lots of people with umbrellas to keep the sun off. Goodness knows where I live they would get more use for that than keeping the rain off. A bit jealous of the big umbrellas. I pulled my cap bill down a little more and got back to work.
 
I greeted a coach from a town I visited earlier in the week. He was there doing some scouting. With it being a four-team scrimmage on a Thursday, it was a good place to do some reconnaissance for future games. Scouting coaches remain nameless here because they are like hunters, you really don’t want to point them out. 
 
Scrimmages are a game all their own. Players, coaches, and referees are all practicing for the upcoming season. If the referees on my side had any idea I was going to write about them, they might have thrown a flag and sent me to the other side. Some basic discussion of six-man rules verses eleven man and how many times the advising referee had gotten to officiate state games. Then the tenured advice not to chase everything to stay back a bit so you can see the play. My favorite was when the younger line judge threw a flag on a play that happened clear across the field. The advising referee quickly called him on it and told him, and I quote, “Now you have gone fishin’ in someone else’s pond.” Several people in my vicinity chuckled. He then explained that the other side of the field was not his area to call. Good times and great training.
 
The sun had started to set and the teams were finishing up. I decided to hit the road right before the last couple of plays so I could avoid the parking lot chaos. I drove into the sunset thinking back on the great scrimmage.
 
See you on the sidelines!
Dency