Working overtime in football a matter for debate

RICK DEVEREUX

Ties are for hockey, soccer and shoelaces. In no way, shape or form

should ties be associated with football, unless you’re talking about

an accessory to the slick suits worn by first-round NFL draft

selections.

But the Sea View League opener between Newport Harbor High and

Foothill ended in a 10-10 tie. The league is one that does not play

overtime.

I think the outcome left the fans wanting some sort of resolution,

and the players from both teams walked off the field with their heads

down, as if they had lost.

But Newport Harbor Coach Jeff Brinkley said an overtime loss could

hurt a team’s chance of making the playoffs.

“Quite often a team from our league is an at-large [playoff]

team,” he said. “If you drop a loss on somebody, it may put [that

team] in a position with not as good of a record as someone in

another league.”

Members of the Golden West League, like Estancia and Costa Mesa,

use the same overtime format as college football. After a coin flip

-- the winner of which can opt to begin on defense or offense, or

select the end of the field where the overtime is played -- each team

gets the ball on the 25-yard line, with the chance to make a first

down. The result of the overtime counts as a win or a loss on the

school’s final record.

“We didn’t come here to kiss our sister,” Estancia Coach Craig

Fertig said. “If the game ends in a tie, why even be out there? It’s

a great rule and I think pro football should go to it.”

Fertig’s enthusiasm for overtime is not shared by his crosstown

counterpart.

“I think it’s a mistake [counting the overtime as a win or loss],”

Costa Mesa Coach Tom Baldwin said. “You take a chance of eliminating

a team from getting into the playoffs.”

Sage Hill, which plays in the Academy League, uses the same format

as the Golden West League.

“A football game that’s fought that hard for three hours, deserves

a victory,” Sage Hill Coach Tom Monarch said. “To fight that hard and

get a tie is foreign to me.”

The Pacific Coast League, including Corona del Mar, uses overtime,

but with a twist.

“The game officially ends as tie and it goes into the record as a

tie,” CdM Coach Dick Freeman said. “The overtime is for playoff

preference, so it isn’t decided by a coin flip.”

So, the team that wins in overtime holds the edge over the loser,

should a tiebreaker be needed to determine final league standings, as

only the top three teams are assured a CIF Southern Section playoff

berth.

In other leagues, such as the Sea View League, determining playoff

positioning can differ. Typically, the first tiebreaker for teams

with identical records is head-to-head competition. If that doesn’t

work, a flip of a coin is usually the next step.

Last year, the CdM-Tesoro game ended in a 21-21 tie, but the

Titans intercepted a pass in overtime after scoring on their

possession to win the overtime session.

The tie did not affect the Sea Kings’ playoff chances, since they

finished fourth, a half-game behind University, which defeated CdM.

And, though the league overtime rule left CdM with a 5-4-1 overall

record, instead of 5-5, it was still denied an at-large berth.

“I do like [our overtime format],” Freeman said. “It’s the best

for both teams. [The playoffs are not decided] by the most points

scored or a coin flip.”

Baldwin said he would be in favor of the Golden West League

adopting the PCL format, where the outcome of an overtime is used

only for playoff implications.

“The PCL probably has a good idea of not flipping a coin to see

who goes into the playoffs,” he said. “We could end up with three

teams being 4-2 [in league play] and only two go to the playoffs.

Where it is now, the flip of a coin decides. A better way is to play

out the games.”

But even coaches within the Sea View disagree on the value of a

tie.

“I like overtime,” Foothill Coach Doug Case said. “Even though we

are 0-1 in the overtime, I think the kids deserve to play the game

out [to a decision].”

The Knights lost to Wilson of Hacienda Heights, 24-21, in double

overtime in the opening round of the CIF Division VI playoffs last

season.

Newport Harbor, which was ranked No. 1 in Division VI for much of

the season, fell to No. 3 after the tie, even though the Sailors

remain unbeaten at 5-0-1.

Still, Brinkley believes a tie gives Sea View League teams a

better chance to get into the playoffs.

“In this division, there is only one league that gets a fourth

team in the playoffs,” Brinkley said. “A tie gives you a better

record.”

There are five leagues in Division VI, Division VII, Division IX

and Division XIII, the divisions of the Sea View, Golden West,

Pacific Coast and Academy leagues, respectively. The top three from

each league make the playoffs, with one at-large team filling out the

16-team bracket.

Divisions I and II each have four leagues, which produce 12

guaranteed playoff participants and four at-large entries.

*

Many Newport-Mesa teams are ranked in their respective division’s

CIF top-10 polls.

The CdM girls cross country team is No. 5 in Division III and the

CdM boys are No. 8.

The Sea Kings remain No. 5 in Division I boys water polo, followed

by Newport harbor at No. 6. Costa Mesa is No. 10 in Division II.

The CdM girls volleyball team is No. 1 in Division III-A. Newport

Harbor is No. 7 in Division II-AA and Sage Hill is No. 9 in Division

IV-A.

The Sage Hill girls tennis team is No. 3 in Division V and the CdM

girls are No. 3 in Division I.