The PIAA is celebrating its officials this week.

A release from the organization said that it’s devoting one week during the fall (Oct. 2-8), the winter (Jan. 8-14), and the spring (April 2-8) sport seasons to highlight and thank officials for the role they play in high school sports.

The PIAA will be promoting Officials’ Appreciation Weeks through a social media campaign in the days leading up to and during these weeks. It’s also asking members schools to acknowledge officials during these weeks.

It’s a campaign that probably won’t get the attention it deserves, primarily because officials are usually taken for granted by the public.

While players and coaches get the majority of attention from fans and media, most people only think about officials if they make a call they feel went against their team.

But while fans don’t give much thought to the men and women officiating the games, PIAA and District 11 administrations certainly do.

“Plain and simple, without referees and umpires, contests cannot be played. The role they play is critical to our student-athletes having the opportunity to enjoy the sports they love,” said Northwestern Athletic Director and District 11 chairman Jason Zimmerman. “You aren’t going to get rich being a PIAA official. The gross majority of the men and women who so graciously dedicate their time as a PIAA official are doing it because they want to give back to the sport that has given so much to them.

“They want to do their part to make sure student-athletes today have the same positive experiences in the sports they love, as they did when they were student-athletes. These men and women are willing to put themselves out there, make the best possible calls they can during a game, and subject themselves to the scrutiny of the players, coaches, and fans.”

Unfortunately, throughout the district, the state and the entire country, there are fewer and fewer people becoming officials.

The drop in numbers - particularly in football officials - has been staggering. According to Zimmerman, there are currently 195 PIAA football officials in District 11. Twenty years ago, the number was close to 400.

“The rewards are plenty in that you get to contribute to the sport you may not be able to actually play anymore, you develop a ton of professional friendships along the way, you can use it to stay in shape, and all while make a few extra bucks on the side,” said Zimmerman. “The problem is the negative comments from the stands or the sideline, being confronted by a disgruntled fan on your way to the car after the game, being blasted on social media for a call, etc. are outweighing the positives. That’s why we are losing so many officials, or not getting any new officials. It simply isn’t worth the time and aggravation.

”This is not unique to the District 11 area. Unfortunately, it’s the trend across our country. Something truly needs to be done to insulate what few officials we have remaining, and to attract new ones into the profession. If that doesn’t happen, we could reach a point where games won’t be played due to a lack of referees.”

Because of the growing shortage of football officials, schools are already beginning to adjust schedules.

“If you have X amount of games on a Friday night, and only Y amount of available referees, guess what, some of those games need to get moved to an alternate date,” explained Zimmerman. “We are already getting creative with scheduling in football.

“You already see some Thursday night games, Saturday afternoon games, and Saturday night games for a variety of reasons and if things do not change, you will absolutely see even more of these contests being moved from the traditional Friday night slot.”

So is there a solution to the problem? Or some day soon will football games have to be spread out across three or four days, instead of being played primarily on Friday nights?

“I think it needs to be a team effort where players, coaches, AD’s, and fans truly must work together to change our approach,” said Zimmerman. “Officials are human, they will make mistakes - no different than players and coaches will make mistakes - and we really need to think twice how we react to those mistakes.

“We can stop this trend in its tracks by controlling our behaviors and our words when watching our kids play the sport they love, and by considering giving back to the sports that have been so good to us over the years by becoming a PIAA official. Even if you can only give one night a week or one day on a weekend, that is one more game that won’t need to be canceled due to a lack of officials.”

If it sounds like Zimmerman - and athletic directors throughout the district - are now actively recruiting officials, it’s because they are.

Zimmerman said officiating can be a great part-time job for anyone, citing college students in particular.

“Regardless of where they are attending school, college students can go to class during the day, referee a game at 4 p.m., and be home by 7 p.m. for studying or socializing.

“PIAA officials are required for all levels, middle school through varsity - and for all sports. So whether you’re available one day a week or seven days a week, our assignors will work with you.”

**********

NICE REBOUND ... Northern Lehigh - which hadn’t been shut out in 40 straight games before blanked by North Schuylkill two weeks ago - rebounded in a big way last Friday when it posted a 42-0 shutout victory over Salisbury.

The last time the Bulldogs were shut out, and then posted a shutout win in their next game was 2004. In Week 7 (on Oct. 15) against Saucon Valley, Northern Lehigh suffered a 7-0 defeat. The Bulldogs turned things around the following game when they rolled past Northwestern by a 36-0 score.

**********

ALTERNATING DECISIONS ... Marian has had an up-and-down season, literally. The Colts have alternated wins and losses in all six of their games this year, starting with the win they gained over Schuylkill Haven on opening night.

The last time Marian, now 3-3, had a run this long was in 2004. During that season, the Colts went back-and-forth with wins and losses eight different times. Not surprisingly, Stan Dakosty’s team finished that year with a 5-5 record.

**********

ANOTHER TD RETURN ... Speaking of Marian, the Colts received an 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown from Michael Silliman in last week’s game against Mahanoy Area. A year ago, Silliman brought back a free kick after a safety for a score against Pine Grove.

Over the last 30 years, only two other Marian players have had multiple kickoff returns for touchdowns. They were Seth Paluck, who had three combined in 2016 and 2017, and Vito Digilio, who also had three in 2003 and 2004.

**********

BEARS’ WORKHORSE ... Pleasant Valley’s Fela Olaniyan ran for 142 yards on 30 carries last week against Parkland.

Olaniyan is just one of four Bears players to carry the ball at least 30 times in a game over the past 30 seasons.

The other PV backs to tote the ball that much were Nasai Moon (43 times on Oct. 19, 2018), Austyn Borre (35 times on Sept. 6, 2013) and Matt Lunn (35 times on Oct. 15, 1993).

The most carries for any area player (since 1992) in a game are 49 by both Tamaqua’s Nate Boyle, and Northern Lehigh’s Cody Remaley.

**********

NO YARDS PASSING ... Northwestern blanked Saucon Valley last Friday, relying on its ground game to record the win.

The Tigers picked up 328 yards of offense, all of them coming with their rushing attack (they did complete a pass, but it didn’t gain any yards).

The last time Northwestern played a game in which its didn’t produce any positive yards passing was Sept. 23, 2011 - 126 games ago - when it finished with minus-five yards on two completions in a loss against Southern Lehigh.

The last time Northwestern won a game in which it didn’t have any positive passing yards was Sept. 5, 2008 - 160 games ago - when the Tigers had 333 rushing yards in a 21-6 victory over Salisbury.

**********

RECORDS GALORE ... Palmerton’s Matt Machalik had quite an evening last week against Pine Grove.

The junior quarterback broke his own record for passing yards in a game when he threw for 347. He also set a new school record for touchdowns passes in a game with six. Since 1996, he is just one of four area players to throw for six TDs in a game. The others are Pleasant Valley’s Brandon Keyes (Oct. 7, 2016) and Brandon Leap (Sept. 6, 2013) and Jim Thorpe’s Corey Cinicola (Nov. 10, 2007).

Machalik also broke a school record for touchdown passes in a season, passing Garrett Perschy’s old mark of 19 from 2016. Machalik now has 21 scoring throws this year. Over the past 35 years, only seven QBs have thrown more than that in a season. They include Keyes, Leap and Cinicola, along with Northwestern’s Deven Bollinger, Northern Lehigh’s Dylan Smoyer, Pleasant Valley’s Derrick Walling and Panther Valley’s Cazzie Kosciolek.

If that wasn’t enough, Machalik also ran for two scores to give him 48 for his career. That also set a new school record, breaking Mike Stasko’s total of 46 compiled from 2013-16.

Machalik’s efforts also helped give head coach Chris Walkowiak a victory. The 12th-year mentor now has 54 career wins with the Blue Bombers. That ties him with Manny Guedes for the most in school history.

**********

OLYMPIAN PICK SIXES ... Jim Thorpe’s Noah Rosahac and Cole Lazorick both intercepted passes and returned them for touchdowns in last Friday’s win against Tamaqua.

Over the last 30 years, it’s the 10th time in area history that at least two teammates have had pick-sixes in the same game.

The only other time the Olympians achieved this was Sept. 13, 2019, when three players (Jave Butler, Cameron Tinajero and TJ Garritano) accomplished the feat.

The other eight include Palmerton’s Jordan Nelson and Ethan Recker (Sept. 23, 2019), Marian’s Jake McLaughlin and Matt Doherty (Oct. 13, 2017), Marian’s Zack Falls and Max Nolter (Sept. 29, 2017), Lehighton’s Nick Chambers and Zack Crum (Oct. 15, 2015), Palmerton’s Dominic Shivone and Tre Nelson (Oct. 24, 2014), Northwestern’s Harry Hall and Taylor Breininger (Oct. 17, 2014), Northern Lehigh’s Matt Sutjak and Frank Gnas (Sept. 17, 2004) and Northern Lehigh’s Frank Lieckel and Keith Blose (Oct. 5, 1996).