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Football: Officials reprimanded for failure to allow OT

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Officials who refused to allow Temple City and Arcadia to play overtime last Friday after the teams’ nonleague game was tied at the end of regulation made a mistake, an official with the San Gabriel Valley Football Officials Assn. told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.

Joe Conte, the association’s liaison to the Southern Section, told the newspaper that since both coaches agreed to play overtime, the game should have continued.

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‘We’re in the process of damage control right now,’ Conte said. ‘ ... It’ll take years to get over this, and it will hang with our unit for years and years and years.’

At a special meeting earlier this week involving the officials who worked the game, one official acknowledged saying ‘You just can’t pay me enough to work overtime’ before leaving the field, according to Conte.

Conte said poor communication contributed to the officials’ blunder. Coaches should have informed the officials prior to the fourth quarter that they wanted to play overtime, and that never happened.

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The officials had the mistaken impression overtimes were not allowed in nonleague games.

‘I don’t know where they got that we don’t do overtimes,’ Conte said, ‘because there must have been six overtimes [last] weekend.’

Conte said the association would send a letter of apology to Temple City and Arcadia administrators. The officials who worked the game face repercussions from the association’s board of directors, who will meet to discuss the matter next week.

--Ben Bolch

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