high school football

For the second-straight week, a Western New York football player is featured in Gannett's top five national plays of the week.

There’s nothing like high school football. I mean it. There’s nothing like it. I know there are a lot of people who could care less. But if you’ve ever been on a football field under the lights on a Friday night, you might be able to understand.

Sometimes bad things happen to good people. Matt Perillo is a close friend of mine. He’s a longtime high school football and basketball official who came down with a serious bacterial blood infection back in January. It nearly cost him his life, but it so badly affected blood circulation in his legs they had to be amputated.

It happened just after the finish of a high school football championship game at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas when a runaway golf cart struck a coach and number of reporters doing interviews on the field. The coach was knocked backwards onto the cart and the others were knocked to the ground. A stadium worker was able to jump in and stop it. They think it might have been one of t

While Down syndrome student Brett Bowden rarely got on the field, he was popular member of Hobbton High School’s football team due to his enthusiasm and positive attitude. Everybody expected Bowden to be on the team again for the 2011 season, but, in a controversial decision, the state of North Carolina has ruled him ineligible.

I saw this story on CNN.com and it struck a chord.  I've been officiating high school football for 25 years and I've seen my share of serious injuries and there have been times we've had to wait for an extended period of time until the first aid crews arrive.  There are some school districts that have a rescue crew at every game and I'm so thankful they do.  Most of the time they're not needed, bu