Friday night football is a national high school tradition that goes back decades. Here in Maine, teams across the state have turned on the lights on Friday night for years. A few schools stick to Saturday afternoons, but Friday night has been the domain for high school football. In so many towns across the state, a lit up football field on a Friday night is an inviting beacon of fall.

Lately, for a few reasons, Thursday Night Football has been horning in on Friday’s turf.

With fewer experienced officials available to work varsity games, Thursday games were introduced a few years ago as a way to ease the Friday night pressure. Ideally, a crew of five game officials will work a high school contest. Some were being played with four officials, and missing that one set of eyes can mean a few

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