High School football

(CArdinal Newman vs. St. Bonaventure, CIF State D3 Final)

High school football, referring to the American code in the United States and the Canadian code in Canada, is one of the most popular sports in high schools. Not only is it extreamly popular in the U.S. but also in Canada.

High school football is also known as prep football, it goes back to the late 19th century, the time when many college football programs were started. In the late 19th and early 20th century, many college and high school teams played against each other. Many other traditions of high school football like pep rallies, marching bands, mascots, and homecoming games all came from college football.

HS Football Rules

The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) establishes the rules of High School Football.

Two states, Texas[1][2] and Massachusetts,[3] use NCAA playing rules except as shown below.

With their common ancestry, the NFHS rules of high school football are largely similar to the college game, though with some important differences:

The four quarters are each 12 minutes in length, as opposed to 15 minutes in all other forms of the game. (Texas uses the NFHS 12-minute quarter; Massachusetts uses the NCAA 15-minute quarter.)
Kickoffs take place at the kicking team's 40 yd line, as opposed to the 30 in the college and the NFL ranks. (Both Texas and Massachusetts have adopted the NFHS rule.)
If a ball crosses the plane of the goal line on a missed field goal, it would be a touchback and the opposing team will start at the 20 yd line.
Any kick crossing the goal line is automatically a touchback; kicks cannot be returned out of the end zone.
Pass interference by the defense results in a 15-yard penalty (and automatic first down), regardless of where the foul occurred (unlike the pro ranks where the ball is placed at the spot of the foul).
The defense cannot return an extra-point attempt for a score.
The use of overtime, and the type of overtime used, is up to the individual state association.
At least one unique high school rule has been adopted by college football. In 1996, the overtime rules originally utilized by Kansas high school teams were adopted by the NCAA.

HS Football Season

(Briarcliff Nanuet section 1 class b quarterfinal)

The Pre Season
The football season usually starts with weightlifting and other conditioning exercises. Near mid-August, two-a-days practices tend to begin and usually last for one week or until school starts. After two-a-days end, regular season practices begin each week day afternoon except on game days. Practices are often held on Saturday as well, but almost never on Sunday.

The Football Season
The regular season is usually a 10 game season. The first game of the season is usually at the beginning of September and the final regular season game is usually around mid November. Teams may have one or more bye weeks during the regular season. Larger schools can often get spectators in the thousands, even for regular season games, and sometimes play a game at a college or a professional stadium to fit larger crowds.

Alomost every high school football game is played Friday nights, but schools may change the game say to a Saturday because of traveling conditions. Larger schools are more often to have games played on a day rather than Friday.

Reasourse Page

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_school_football

http://www.usafootball.com/

http://www.maxpreps.com/national/national.htm

http://cifstate.org/sports/state/football/index.html