As usual, Southeastern Conference football teams continue to eat their own.

Florida and Arkansas remain in the hunt for a slot in the National Championship game, while Georgia bounced back from several disappointments to ruin Auburn&8217;s chances. Florida narrowly escaped with a win over South Carolina, and sent former Coach Steve Spurrier home looking for a kicker.

I was surprised that Arkansas had such an easy time with Tennessee, but the Vols fell off rather sharply at quarterback and running back when injuries and suspensions left them without their starters at those positions. LSU handled Alabama without much problem. The Tigers could easily be undefeated &8212; and in the national championship mix &8212; had they gotten the officiating call they deserved against Auburn and if they had scored just before the half against Florida.

The SEC is not alone when it comes to having teams eliminated from the national championship mix. Texas and California both fell Saturday. I never felt that California, which lost badly to Tennessee in the season opener, deserved consideration, but the West Coact teams always draw lots of votes.

It is no news that while Trinity continues its march toward a deserved state championship, Ferriday is making the same sort of move in Louisiana. Cathedral, ACCS and Huntington fell out of contention last Friday night.

Coach Bobby Marks at ACCS and Coach Ken Beesley at Cathedral continue to get superior production out of everyday athletes.

Natchez can look with pride on the local football coaches. Coaches Marks and Beesley are veterans, but Coach Lance Reed at Natchez High School and Coach David King at Trinity have programs headed in the right direction. Of course, Coach Dee Faircloth at Vidalia has always been successful. The coaches at Ferriday and Huntington are doing good jobs, as well.

Some fans have asked about a sometimes-confusing difference between high school and college football rules. You will see flags thrown and play stopped before the ball is snapped for encroachment. Under high school rules, a defensive player (or any part of his body) may not be in the neutral zone after the ball is marked ready for play, while under college rules this does not become a violation until the ball is snapped. Under high school rules, that foul is called encroachment although college rules still refer to it as offsides. There are exceptions, of course, but this is not a &8220;rules clinic.&8221;

Restrictions on offensive linemen remain about the same at both levels of play, with the down linemen prohibited from movement unless they are threatened by a defender who moves into the neutral zone. Violations of this rule continue to be signaled by the old illegal procedure official&8217;s signal, but each violation now carries its own name. Most public address announcers, continue to call it illegal procedure. It will take some time before all are up to speed.

And, that&8217;s official.

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

AlanWard39057@aol.com