BY JIM CNOCKAERT
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER
Veteran referee Jim Bowdoin has long contended that more is better when it comes to officiating a high school football game.
Tonight, he’ll find out if he’s right.
Bowdoin, a Bristol, Va., resident who is in his 50th season as a Tennessee high school official, will lead a 6-man crew scheduled to work the Big East Conference showdown in Johnson City, Tenn., between Science Hill and Dobyns-Bennett, the state’s top-ranked 5A school.
“It’s the first time I have ever worked with a 6-man crew, and I am really excited about it” Bowdoin said on Thursday. “I think we can do a much better job, because we’ll have one more pair of eyes to watch things.
“Some coaches worry that the only thing the extra guy will mean is more flags. I don’t think so. It’s going to give us better coverage.”
When Bowdoin first started, games were officiated by three men. That number has since expanded to five.
But the evolution of high school offenses to spread passing attacks prompted Bowdoin and many of his colleagues to lobby the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association to add a sixth official to a crew.
TSSAA officials agreed to experiment with the extra official this season, he said, and tonight’s game will be the third time it’s been tried. The extra official, another back judge, helps to cover the deepest areas of the defensive secondary.
Having an extra man also changes where each official lines up during special-teams plays, and Bowdoin this week put together a handbook so each member of his crew understood his responsibilities.
Bowdoin said he does not know whether the TSSAA will officially adopt 6-man crews, but he acknowledged that cost might be a factor that works against it. Each official is paid $85, he said, and small schools might not be able to absorb the extra cost.
“But I’m glad they’re going to have it for Friday’s game,” he said.
jcnockaert@bristolnews.com|(276) 645-2572
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