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The biggest thing is to be right, and high school officials constantly work at making sure they are.

By GLENN JORDAN, Staff Writer September 21, 2007

NORTH BERWICK — Trailing 27-21 with time running out in the football game, Marshwood High faced a fourth-and-long deep in its territory. Quarterback Sean Gray dropped back to pass, scrambled to avoid the rush and turned upfield. Just as it seemed he would attempt to run, he flung the ball to an open receiver for a first down.

Or was it?

As the Marshwood players scampered toward midfield to continue their frenzied two-minute offense, referee Ray Petit hustled to the spot where Gray released the football -- conveniently marked with a bean bag tossed by umpire Ed Tolan -- and pulled a yellow flag from his back pocket.

Like a golfer lining up a putt, Petit held his flag above the bean bag and zeroed in on the down marker on the far sideline, judging whether Gray had crossed the line of scrimmage before releasing his pass.

Satisfied the throw was legal, Petit returned his flag to his pocket and rejoined the rest of his crew -- umpire Tolan, linesman Tom Orr and line judge David Discatio. Two plays earlier, Petit had thrown his flag for illegal motion on what turned out to be a 77- yard touchdown run that would have tied the score.

"The fullback moved," Petit explained a week later as he dressed for a game between Noble and visiting Kennebunk. "He did it the play before and I warned him. Unfortunately, he did it again."

Unfortunate because no football official wants a penalty to determine the outcome of a game. The men -- and women -- of the Southwestern Maine Board of Football Officials prefer to do their work in relative anonymity. They are most successful when their presence isn't noticed or remembered.

They also know that without them, there is no game.

"We don't do this for the money, that's for sure," said Tolan, whose other uniform is that of Falmouth's chief of police.

"Sixty bucks for five or six hours?" chimed in Petit, the plant manager of Maine Dry Cleaning in Saco.

"It's a lot of time," said Discatio, a variety store owner from Portland.

"Just to listen to coaches scream at you all night?" said Orr, who drives trailer trucks for a living.

No, after spending a Friday night observing Petit's crew officiate a 6-2 Kennebunk victory over Noble, it becomes clear that those who wear the vertical black-and-white stripes consider it a calling and a privilege.

Making the grade

There are four chapters of the Maine Association of Football Officials. They range from the 20-member chapter in Waterville, to Bangor, Augusta and Southwestern Maine, the largest with 82 active members.

Schools in southwestern Maine use four officials for regular- season games. All playoff games except the state finals use five officials, six for title games. College and professional teams use seven.

"We're trying to expand it to five (during the regular season) because the kids are getting bigger, stronger and faster," said Paul DuPerre, who decides which crews work which games in southern Maine.

In an effort to stay sharp, officials in this area -- don't call them referees; there's only one referee per crew, the guy wearing the white hat -- gather each Tuesday night at Scarborough High for a lively discussion of rules, mechanics, unusual plays and special areas of emphasis.

Mike Drouin, a Bonny Eagle teacher who officiates high school and college games, puts together a weekly quiz that he collects, grades (no names, please) and goes over the following week.

Drouin also is the referee of a crew that includes Kim Schwickrath, one of the three female football officials in southwestern Maine. She officiated in Connecticut for nine years before moving to Old Orchard Beach.

"Everybody's a lot more polite in Maine than they were in Connecticut," said Schwickrath, 47. "They just want to make sure you're good. I don't get treated any differently."

Becoming an official in Maine involves taking a series of classes, studying the 77-page rule book and passing...