BUTLER TWP — Ever hear of the 30-30-30 club? Merril Moses may be the charter member.

Moses, 85, has been the scoreboard clock operator for Butler High School home football games for 30 years now.

Before that, he worked 30 years as a high school football official and 30 years as a prep basketball official.

“I don’t know if anyone can say they’ve got 90 years in,” Moses said, laughing.

He’s still involved in athletics primarily because he can’t stay away from them.

“I love being involved,” Moses said. “I’ve been in sports all my life.”

Moses played second base in fast-pitch softball for 25 years, lettered two years in basketball at Butler High School, played on a Butler Cubs championship football team and a Butler city championship basketball team in 1948.

He stood only 5-foot-6 and weighed 140 pounds.

It’s only fitting Moses finish out his athletic career running a clock. He attended watch-making school on a G.I. bill for two years in the late 1940s, laying the groundwork for a career in the jewelry business.

“I was a halfback on the Cubs football team and was only used sparingly,” Moses recalled. “I remember the coach telling me that my fingers and hands were my life, given the fact I was making watches.

“There was no sense getting them banged up.”

Moses said his batting average in softball “was probably .007, but once I got on base, I would score.”

“Speed was my asset in every sport I played. I’d tell the catcher I was gonna bunt and they still wouldn’t throw me out,” he added.

He saw an advertisement encouraging veterans — Moses got out of the service in 1946 — to attend watch-making school. He and a bunch of buddies decided to give it a try.

“We went five days a week for two years until we graduated,” Moses said. “Most of the other guys wound up working at Armco or Pullman. I stayed with it, got a building on Cunningham Street and was there for 40 years.”

Moses began officiating in 1951 and made $12 per game. He worked football and basketball games with eventual major league umpire and charter Butler County Sports Hall of Famer Ed Vargo. He also did games with longtime coach Paul “Red” Uram.

“Paul and I tried to get into working college games at Pitt and West Virginia when we were 36. We found out the cutoff age to apply was 35, so we stayed with the high school stuff,” Moses said.

He recalled working a Beaver Falls game when Joe Namath was the team’s quarterback.

“He was quite the verbal guy ... I had to throw him out of that game,” Moses said.

As his business expandced, Moses had less time to officiate games.

“I didn’t have time to travel anymore,” he said of the late nights.

When he gave up officiating, Butler’s football program needed someone to run the scoreboard clock. Coach Art Bernardi approached Moses about handling the job.

He could arrive at the stadium shortly before game time and leave immediately afterward.

“It seemed to be a natural transition to make,” Moses said. “I wait for the referee’s signal, of course, but I can anticipate it from years of working games myself.”

Moses is showing no signs of slowing down. He’s shot his age in golf four times, including an 82 this year.

“I’ve loved these years in sports. The Saul brothers, Terry Hanratty, on down the line ... I’ve seen them all come and go,” he said.

“As long as I can see from the pressbox to the other side of the field, I’ll keep doing it,” Moses said of running the clock. “I just play it by ear, really.”