GNAC Officiating Crew Shines in DII Football Championship Game

The crew along with supervisor Mike Burton.

Last Saturday's NCAA DII football championship game on ESPN3 drew extra attention nationwide when word spread about the bitterly cold conditions in Kansas City, Kan.

If you saw it you could almost experience it -- a "feels like" temperature well below zero, snow blowing up, down and sideways, a field the color of a bedsheet.

For many of those in the Pacific Northwest who follow DII football, though, it wasn't just the terrific matchup pitting defending national champion Northwest Missouri State against North Alabama that enticed them to the video stream. There was also a keen rooting interest in the officiating crew assigned to the game.

Perhaps no one had a stronger interest than longtime GNAC supervisor of officials Mike Burton, who more than any other is the person responsible for the identification, recruitment and development of the conference's football officiating pool. Having "his" guys on the game was an experience he won't soon forget.

"Telling the crew and my commissioner that we had been selected for the championship game was one of the most exciting things I have ever done," said Burton, a former longtime official in the Pacific Northwest. "You work so hard to build your crew, support them as much as you can, and work with others to give the GNAC a positive reputation."

The GNAC crew earned its way to the title game through its performances in the preliminary rounds of the playoffs, garnering top marks from a body of evaluators who either reviewed the crew in person or assessed the officials by watching videotape. Following the quarterfinal round, the GNAC crew graded out No. 1 among all the crews assigned to the tournament.

Referee Bob Rose supervises the pre-game coin toss.

"They did us proud," said  Burton of the performance of his officials, a group of eight hailing from the states of Oregon, Washington, California and Nevada.  "To have a GNAC crew do such an outstanding job and represent our conference in the way it did was the best outcome that could happen. I am so proud of my officials."

Over the past three seasons, the GNAC's officiating program has earned some significant national respect when it comes to playoff assignments. The national championship game this past weekend was the eighth time the GNAC had been chosen to work a playoff game since 2014, a stretch that includes two semifinals in addition to last week's finale.

From the perspective of referee Bob Rose, he couldn't have been more pleased with his crew's performance, despite the bitterly cold conditions and a snow accumulation that forced the officials to work much of the game without the benefit of visible yard-lines.

"I couldn't be happier; the crew excelled on the field," said Rose, who was making his fourth appearance in a national title game at the small-college level. "There was a Big 12 replay official in the press box for video replays and not one time was he used. I was very proud to be walking off the field with my crew knowing we had done our job."

The GNAC crew:

Referee -- Bob Rose, Longview, Wash.
Umpire -- Kurt Renstrom, Bend, Ore.
Head Linesman -- Mike Livingston, Seattle, Wash.
Line Judge -- Ben Keller, Las Vegas, Nev.
Field Judge -- Chad Burch, Yakima, Wash.
Side Judge -- Eric Cheatley, Longview, Wash.
Back Judge -- Jason Castro, Santa Rosa, Calif.
Alternate: Dan Stivers, Black Diamond, Wash.