2/29 Elon 20 - 17 Duke (Elon, NC)

This was my second 80 minute game. It was also effectively the North Carolina Division 3 Collegiate championship, as both teams were 4-0 in their division, playing for the home semifinal against the South Carolina D3 runner up (Coastal Carolina ). The loser would have to travel to Furman, who are perennial division 3 champions. Not only did the game have such an influence on the teams post-season progress, there was also at least 150 people on the sideline! The game was being played on a cold February Friday night under lights with a very loud and critical crowd.

While it was probably not appropriate that I was assigned to this game, I will say that I learned A LOT by doing it. It is definitely the most emotional and meaningful game that I have been responsible for officiating. The coaches of Duke and Elon were kind enough to provide....constructive? criticism following the game.

The game was very tightly contested, with the lead changing on multiple occasions. Duke stuck to the same game plan they used against UNC-Charlotte, utilizing their powerful and accurate kickers to punish Elon's back three with in-field kicks. Duke also benefited from being able to kick penalty goals from the 10 meter. Elon were a bit more organized than Duke, using a more methodical game plan, maintaining possession and scoring typical tries with their forwards and half backs off the base of rucks.

If I am remembering correctly, Elon maintained possession for much of the game, but had a difficult time finishing. Duke, using their kick and chase plan, could use their little possession to manufacture points. It was back and forth for the whole game, with Duke going into half time in a slight lead. As the game wore on I made an unfortunate error with about 10 minutes to go and Elon two points down, I obstructed a defender near the Duke line, and had to call back a try scored by the Elon halfback. This did not go well with the Elon crowd, but Elon maintained their position and with about 2 minutes to go, punched in the game winning try.

As a Lock / Backrower throughout my playing career, I mostly watched and refereed the forwards based portion of the game. I felt I did a decent job with my watching the offsides on kicks, keeping the hands out of the rucks, keeping guys on their feet, and coming in straight to the maul/ruck. What I did VERY poorly, was watch the backlines, as I have no experience in the backline. I found myself, and this was noted by Elon's coach (a South African) after the game, watching the rucks too closely and not facing the backlines. Fortunately, both teams benefited from my ignorance, and took advantage of me not enforcing the offside law there.

I also had a lot of trouble with signals and whistle volume in this game, but this was compounded by the loud atmosphere of the game.

As I said before, this game was a baptism of fire. I probably should not have been assigned this game, but I do feel it served to develop my game much faster than it would have otherwise.