Last Friday night at Mississippi College&8217;s football stadium, over 4,000 fans saw the 57th annual Mississippi All-Star high school football contest.

The game was played under high school rules, including 12-minute quarters, but I am not sure if those were the 2005 rules, under which all of the players had played their entire careers, or under the 2006 rules, which include several changes. The most noticeable difference to me is that the officials and the public announcer continued to use the old illegal procedure signal and announcement, which will no longer be in effect in 2006. I don&8217;t know if that was by intent, or if old habits just die hard. This season, each of the violations which used to fall under the illegal procedure umbrella will have its own signal.

There were several local connections at the game. I saw Cathedral coaches Bert Smith, Cloyce Hinton and Roy Garcia. Roy is a past-president of the Mississippi Association of Coaches and currently serves on the board of directors of that organization.

While walking the sidelines, I noticed that the punter/kicker for the South squad was a kid named Lovitt, from Oak Grove. When I asked him if he was related to a man named Bo Lovitt, he brightened up and said that was his daddy. Bo was raised in Natchez and was an athlete at Cathedral. The youngster, Taylor Lovitt, was also a soccer star at Oak Grove and also on the golf team. He plans to attend Ole Miss and, since the school has no varsity soccer program, he will play club soccer. He doesn&8217;t play much golf now, but admits his inspiration is from his father and grandfather, my old golf friend Rip Lovitt. Taylor is following in the footsteps of his dad and grandmother, Ruth Adell Lovitt in his trek to Ole Miss Rebel land. I have to mention that Rip Lovitt was the best putter I ever saw from eight feet in. With no Cathedral or Natchez High players on the all-star rosters, I was glad there was some Natchez connection to the game, anyway.

I always observe the officials at any game I watch. One hard to miss official was the line judge, Sarah Thomas of Flowood. Ms. Thomas, in her 12th year of high school football officiating, got into the game through her brother while living on the coast. Though she initially received a lukewarm reception by middle Mississippi officials, her ability and hustle have led her to better and better assignments. She officiated the 2005 Alabama vs. Mississippi All-Star Game in Mobile, as well as this 2006 Mississippi All-Star Game. When not officiating, she is a pharmaceutical representative and has aspirations to reach the collegiate officiating level. She does a better job than many male football officials I have seen and could very well become a college football official.

And, that&8217;s official.

Al Graning is a former SEC official and former Natchez resident.He can be reached by e-mail at

AlanWard39157@aol.com