Football is the most popular sport played in North America. It is played by two teams with 11 players on each side. The idea in football is to advance the ball down the field and put the ball in the end zone. This is called a touchdown and it is worth six points. Teams can also score points on field goals, extra points and safeties. The team with the most points at the ends of 60 minutes wins the game.
Length of Game
In college and professional football, the game is comprised of four quarters of 15 minutes each. High school football has four quarters of 12 minutes each. There is a three-minute break at the end of the first and third quarters and a 15-minute break after the second quarter. The game is started with a coin toss. If the visiting team calls the coin toss correctly it gets to choose whether it wants the ball, wants to kickoff, decide which side of the field it wants to take or defer the choice to the start of the second half. If it loses the coin toss, the home team gets to choose. The team with the most points wins the game.
Players on the Field
Each team must have 11 players on the field for each play. Five of those players are offensive linemen who provide the blocking. The offensive line is comprised of two offensive tackles, two offensive guards and one center. The other players are the quarterback, two wide receiver, two running backs and a tight end. On defense, there at two defensive ends, two defensive tackles, three linebackers, two cornerbacks and two safeties.
Playing the Game
A play begins when the center snaps the ball to the quarterback. At that point, the offense tries to advance the ball and the defense tries to stop the offense from moving. The quarterback will typically take two to three steps backward after receiving the ball and hand the ball to a running back who tries to follow the blocks of his offensive linemen down the field. The defense will try to burst through the offensive line in an attempt to break the play down and tackle the ballcarrier. The quarterback can also drop back, wait for a receiver to get open and throw the ball.
Blocking
Offensive players cannot grasp opposing players when trying to block on offense. Instead, they must keep their hands inside the frame of their shoulders and use their forearm and shoulders to hit their opponents and open holes. Defensive players may use their hands to toss blockers aside and tackle opponents. No player may grasp another player's helmet or face mask and no player may use their helmet as a blocking or tackling device. This is dangerous and can lead to catastrophic injury.
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