Football: Proposal could eliminate ties in nonconference games

High school football coaches know there are no overtimes played during nonconference play, and games could end in a tie, but some might tend to forget that small detail during the closing moments of a close game.

It happened to Siloam Springs coach Bryan Ross in his team's 2013 season opener against Shiloh Christian during the Hooten's Arkansas Football Kickoff Classic. The Panthers scored three touchdowns in the final 8 minutes, 1 second, but Ross sent out the kicking team with 36 seconds left instead of going for two and wound up with a 35-35 tie at Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.

Tie football games in 2014

Week 1

Benton 14, Bryant 14*

Little Rock Hall 6, North Pulaski 6

Week 3

Marshall 42, Quitman 42

Fountain Lake 6, Maumelle 6

Gosnell 29, Rivercrest 29

Spring Hill 26, Genoa Central 26

*— The tie was Bryant’s fourth since 2001, the most of any Arkansas high school during that time

"I just didn't want our team to lose," Ross said as he recalled the moment last week. "I just wanted to make sure we had a chance to get back in the game.

"It was a little disappointing that it ended in a tie. But looking back at it, it was the right decision, even though I should have known there was no overtime."

That might become one less thing coaches will need to worry about in the future. Tied nonconference football games could become a thing of the past when the Arkansas Activities Association holds its annual meeting with the governing body next week in Little Rock.

Proposal No. 8, if passed, will allow overtime periods to be extended into nonconference football games, beginning this fall. If the score is tied at the end of regulation, both teams will get a chance to score in four plays from the opponents' 10 and will get another chance if the game remains tied.

"I would favor it," said Marshall coach Lee Sadler, whose team played Quitman to a 42-42 tie last season. "We try to teach our kids that, in life, there are winners and there are losers. We joke about the tie now, but I told our players, when they go to a job interview, there will be only one winner and several will lose."

Marshall threw a long touchdown pass with 26 seconds remaining in regulation, but a failed two-point conversion attempt caused its game with Quitman to become one of the six nonconference games to end in a tie. A seventh tie didn't take place because Bentonville chose to go for two and failed with 39.9 seconds left in its 17-16 loss to Kansas City (Mo.) Rockhurst.

Fountain Lake coach Tommy Gilleran, whose team had a 6-6 tie with Maumelle last season, said the biggest problem would be not knowing how many overtimes it would take to declare a winner, but he has no problem with it. James Brookhart, a high school official from Bentonville, said overtime in nonconference games won't be a big deal, either.

"As we manage the game, it doesn't matter to us which way it goes," Brookhart said. "It will be just an added provision in what we do, but I'm sure it's going to affect the coaches and players more than it will us."

Many people, however, might ask why this proposal -- which originated from the AAA's board of directors as a result of a spring survey -- has been offered. Even if the proposal passes and no more games end in ties, those nonconference games still won't have any bearing on conference standings or a tie-breaker for the state playoffs.

Numerous attempts to contact AAA executive director Lance Taylor and AAA associate executive director Don Brodell, who serves as the rules interpreter for football, were unsuccessful.

Sports on 07/29/2015

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