Antelopes Get Official Stamp of Approval : Decision: Southern Section accepts Golden League reversal and reinstates Antelope Valley in football playoffs. Team hits the road for tonight’s game against Fontana.

Citing a rule that states that leagues are solely responsible for determining their playoff participants, the Southern Section accepted the Golden League’s reversed ruling and reinstated Antelope Valley High on Friday in the Division I football playoffs.

The Antelopes, ranked 13th in the state, will play at Fontana at 7:30 tonight.

“We’re really happy,” Antelope Valley Coach Brent Newcomb said. “I’m happy for my seniors to get a shot at it. It’s been a long, hectic week.”

The Golden League Council--the schools’ principals--voted, 5-1, Thursday night to submit Antelope Valley to the Southern Section as the league’s No. 3 representative. Two days earlier, the council replaced the Antelopes with Ridgecrest Burroughs after Antelope Valley forfeited three league victories because it used an academically ineligible player.

In its 5 1/2-hour meeting Thursday night, the council decided Antelope Valley had complied with the spirit of the rules, according to a news release issued Friday. The player in question was a transfer from the state of Washington whose academic status was misinterpreted by school administrators.

The council also considered that the player was a reserve whose participation did not affect the Antelopes’ record. He played in the late stages of three lopsided victories.

As a penalty to Antelope Valley, the council did not reverse the forfeits, meaning the Antelopes did not regain the No. 2 playoff spot they earned on the field and are forced to play their first-round game on the road.

Antelope Valley Principal John Hutak said the majority of the principals agreed that the Antelopes deserved reinstatement, but the meeting ran long while they searched through the rules to see if the switch could be made.

“I think I can tell you that our Golden League constitution and the (Southern Section) constitution is not really specific in terms of some procedures,” Hutak said.

Dean Crowley, the Southern Section’s acting commissioner, said the leagues are free to submit any teams to the section for playoffs as long as the leagues do not violate their own constitutions.

According to Crowley, the Golden League is one of the few leagues whose bylaws do not specifically state win-loss record as the primary determining factor for playoff spots, meaning Antelope Valley could be submitted as the No. 3 team even though it remains in last place with a 1-4 league record.

Burroughs and Fontana (5-5), the second-place representative from the Citrus Belt League, appealed the decision to the Southern Section and both appeals were denied, Crowley said.

Antelope Valley, 5-5 after the forfeits, practiced Monday and Tuesday, then had a light workout Thursday when reinstatement appeared possible, Newcomb said. No practice was scheduled for Friday. He added the team had not seen film of Fontana since Monday.

“I hope they remember a lot,” he said.