This post is meant to be educational, not create controversy, point fingers or blame anyone. If anything, the intent is to engage in a conversation to help people who keep stats on Friday nights improve their stat keeping which in this day and age of numbers has become increasingly important. Earlier today I read a few paragraphs from a Southwest Missouri media outlet recap of a game last Friday and the stats quoted in the recap were so inaccurate, it ruined the integrity of the entire story.
With that said, here are a few pointers that are often turned into mistakes (please feel free to add more to this list as it far from all encompassing) I am not the end all, be all of stat keeping, I'm still learning as I see things happen, but I do enjoy a good conversation on keeping stats and records:
1, Any time an offensive team takes a knee, the offense is credited with a team carry for a loss of one yard. Doesn't matter if the quarterback takes a knee in the shotgun (the bane of my existence, why o' why do teams feel the need to do that) however, it is still a team carry for -1 yard loss. Likewise, when a team spikes the ball to stop the clock, it is a team pass for one attempt, incomplete, no yards.
2, In the event of a bad snap over the head of a quarterback, running back, punter, etc., this is a TEAM carry for the loss of the yards on the play. It is not credited to the offensive player who recovers the ball at the spot. If the offensive player recovers the bad snap and picks up positive yards, it is indeed credited to the individual for the positive yards, negative yards is credited as a TEAM carry.
3, Fumble snaps, fumble carries, fumbles period are credited to either the person who fumbled the ball, or the person who either created the fumble with a bad pitch or toss.
4, On plays where there is a penalty (this is where mistakes are often made) the spot of the penalty is the most important component to scoring the play. If the penalty occurs and is marked off from the line of scrimmage or behind the line of scrimmage, then there is no yards/carries/attempts to be credited to the individual. HOWEVER, if on 1st and 10 at the 20, the ball carrier gains five yards, but a holding penalty occurs at the 17, the ball carrier is credited for a carry for 3 yards, the team is penalized 10 yards from the spot of the foul at the 17, moving the ball back to the 27 making it 1st and 17 at the 27. If the penalty was three yards behind the line of scrimmage, the team is penalized 13 yards and it is 1st and 23 at the 33.
SCOREKEEPERS -- when in doubt, write down or note the spot of the foul and also where they mark it off from. Often times in the confusion of the play and waiting for the official to announce it, scorekeepers will miss where they marked the ball and/or where they walked the penalty from. Two weeks ago when Hillcrest played at Carl Junction, I was lost on an illegal forward pass penalty (it had been so long since I was scoring a game with an illegal forward pass called I forgot the proper scoring on it) as it turns out, it is a 10 yard penalty from the spot of the foul, which in this case was marked one yard past the line of scrimmage, the quarterback GETS a one yard carry on the play, then the team is penalized 10 yards from the spot and the loss of down.
5, In high school scoring, return yards are for fumble returns, interception returns and punt returns. Kickoff return yardage is not kept in high school stats. Teams may keep it and use it, but it is not part of an official high school box score. College and pros do keep kickoff return yards as a team stat.
6, PAT plays do not count toward team or individual stats INCLUDING PENALTIES unless the penalty is assessed on the kickoff after the PAT.
7, The hitch and pitch is a play that gives scorekeepers nightmares ... the receiver who caught the pass gets credited for the reception and the yards to the spot of the catch, the pitch man gets credit for receiving yards from the spot of the initial catch until he is tackled or end zone, but does not get credit for a reception (so in other words it is possible for an offensive player to have 0 receptions and 32 yards receiving) while the quarterback gets the attempt, the completion and all the yards.
Here is an example of what a high school box score should look like (the only difference is I have added the scoring drive info at the end of each touchdown with number of plays, yards the drive covered and time of possession)
Seneca, 56-7
At Bulldog Stadium
Seneca 7 28 7 14 – 56
Carl Junction 0 7 0 0 – 7
First Quarter
Sen–Kaden Clouse 22 run (Drew Sherwood kick), 3:57 (6 plays, 96 yards, 2:56 TOP)
Second Quarter
Sen–Roman Miller 3 run (kick failed), 11:24 (7 plays, 87 yards, 2:17 TOP)
Sen–Brodie Probert 3 run (Clouse run), 9:48 (1 play, 3 yards, :05 TOP)
Sen–Hagan Ginger 39 pass from Clouse (Sherwood kick), 6:21 (4 plays, 47 yards, 2:25)
Sen–Probert 51 run (Sherwood kick), 2:41 (4 plays, 70 yards, :59 TOP)
CJ–Jaxton Wobken 5 pass from Mason Gilbert (Bryant Hanks kick), :25 (6 plays, 26 yards, :45 TOP)
Third Quarter
Sen–Ginger 31 pass from Clouse (Sherwood kick), 10:14 (4 plays, 49 yards, 1:46 TOP)
Fourth Quarter
Sen–Probert 65 run (Sherwood kick), 11:45 (1 play, 65 yards, :15 TOP)
Sen–Brant Laughlin 14 run (Sherwood kick), 2:40 (4 plays, 41 yards, 3:03 TOP)
TEAM STATISTICS
Sen CJ
First downs 17 13
Rushes-yards 30-409 30-100
Passes 2-6-1 13-28-2
Passing yards 70 106
Return yards 42 23
Punts-avg. 0-0 4-36.3
Fumbles-lost 2-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 6-55 3-30
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – Seneca, Miller 10-58, Clouse 8-116, Probert 4-126, Tyrone Harris 3-86, Laughlin 3-32, Silas Ball 1-9, team 1-(-18); Carl Junction, Marcus Lopez-Durman 15-64, K.J. Harms 4-25, Tony Stewart 4-16, Tadem Jones 2-4, Burke Diskin 4-(-3), Gilbert 1-(-6).
PASSING – Seneca, Clouse 2-6-1-70, Probert 0-0-0-0; Carl Junction, Gilbert 12-27-2-101, Diskin 1-1-0-5.
RECEIVING – Seneca, Ginger 2-70; Carl Junction, Wobken 4-34, Maxwell Goddard 3-30, Jett Mills 1-13, Braxton Jones 1-7, Aidan Streight 1-7, Tony Stewart 1-6, T.Jones 1-4, Hanks 1-5.
With that said, here are a few pointers that are often turned into mistakes (please feel free to add more to this list as it far from all encompassing) I am not the end all, be all of stat keeping, I'm still learning as I see things happen, but I do enjoy a good conversation on keeping stats and records:
1, Any time an offensive team takes a knee, the offense is credited with a team carry for a loss of one yard. Doesn't matter if the quarterback takes a knee in the shotgun (the bane of my existence, why o' why do teams feel the need to do that) however, it is still a team carry for -1 yard loss. Likewise, when a team spikes the ball to stop the clock, it is a team pass for one attempt, incomplete, no yards.
2, In the event of a bad snap over the head of a quarterback, running back, punter, etc., this is a TEAM carry for the loss of the yards on the play. It is not credited to the offensive player who recovers the ball at the spot. If the offensive player recovers the bad snap and picks up positive yards, it is indeed credited to the individual for the positive yards, negative yards is credited as a TEAM carry.
3, Fumble snaps, fumble carries, fumbles period are credited to either the person who fumbled the ball, or the person who either created the fumble with a bad pitch or toss.
4, On plays where there is a penalty (this is where mistakes are often made) the spot of the penalty is the most important component to scoring the play. If the penalty occurs and is marked off from the line of scrimmage or behind the line of scrimmage, then there is no yards/carries/attempts to be credited to the individual. HOWEVER, if on 1st and 10 at the 20, the ball carrier gains five yards, but a holding penalty occurs at the 17, the ball carrier is credited for a carry for 3 yards, the team is penalized 10 yards from the spot of the foul at the 17, moving the ball back to the 27 making it 1st and 17 at the 27. If the penalty was three yards behind the line of scrimmage, the team is penalized 13 yards and it is 1st and 23 at the 33.
SCOREKEEPERS -- when in doubt, write down or note the spot of the foul and also where they mark it off from. Often times in the confusion of the play and waiting for the official to announce it, scorekeepers will miss where they marked the ball and/or where they walked the penalty from. Two weeks ago when Hillcrest played at Carl Junction, I was lost on an illegal forward pass penalty (it had been so long since I was scoring a game with an illegal forward pass called I forgot the proper scoring on it) as it turns out, it is a 10 yard penalty from the spot of the foul, which in this case was marked one yard past the line of scrimmage, the quarterback GETS a one yard carry on the play, then the team is penalized 10 yards from the spot and the loss of down.
5, In high school scoring, return yards are for fumble returns, interception returns and punt returns. Kickoff return yardage is not kept in high school stats. Teams may keep it and use it, but it is not part of an official high school box score. College and pros do keep kickoff return yards as a team stat.
6, PAT plays do not count toward team or individual stats INCLUDING PENALTIES unless the penalty is assessed on the kickoff after the PAT.
7, The hitch and pitch is a play that gives scorekeepers nightmares ... the receiver who caught the pass gets credited for the reception and the yards to the spot of the catch, the pitch man gets credit for receiving yards from the spot of the initial catch until he is tackled or end zone, but does not get credit for a reception (so in other words it is possible for an offensive player to have 0 receptions and 32 yards receiving) while the quarterback gets the attempt, the completion and all the yards.
Here is an example of what a high school box score should look like (the only difference is I have added the scoring drive info at the end of each touchdown with number of plays, yards the drive covered and time of possession)
Seneca, 56-7
At Bulldog Stadium
Seneca 7 28 7 14 – 56
Carl Junction 0 7 0 0 – 7
First Quarter
Sen–Kaden Clouse 22 run (Drew Sherwood kick), 3:57 (6 plays, 96 yards, 2:56 TOP)
Second Quarter
Sen–Roman Miller 3 run (kick failed), 11:24 (7 plays, 87 yards, 2:17 TOP)
Sen–Brodie Probert 3 run (Clouse run), 9:48 (1 play, 3 yards, :05 TOP)
Sen–Hagan Ginger 39 pass from Clouse (Sherwood kick), 6:21 (4 plays, 47 yards, 2:25)
Sen–Probert 51 run (Sherwood kick), 2:41 (4 plays, 70 yards, :59 TOP)
CJ–Jaxton Wobken 5 pass from Mason Gilbert (Bryant Hanks kick), :25 (6 plays, 26 yards, :45 TOP)
Third Quarter
Sen–Ginger 31 pass from Clouse (Sherwood kick), 10:14 (4 plays, 49 yards, 1:46 TOP)
Fourth Quarter
Sen–Probert 65 run (Sherwood kick), 11:45 (1 play, 65 yards, :15 TOP)
Sen–Brant Laughlin 14 run (Sherwood kick), 2:40 (4 plays, 41 yards, 3:03 TOP)
TEAM STATISTICS
Sen CJ
First downs 17 13
Rushes-yards 30-409 30-100
Passes 2-6-1 13-28-2
Passing yards 70 106
Return yards 42 23
Punts-avg. 0-0 4-36.3
Fumbles-lost 2-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 6-55 3-30
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – Seneca, Miller 10-58, Clouse 8-116, Probert 4-126, Tyrone Harris 3-86, Laughlin 3-32, Silas Ball 1-9, team 1-(-18); Carl Junction, Marcus Lopez-Durman 15-64, K.J. Harms 4-25, Tony Stewart 4-16, Tadem Jones 2-4, Burke Diskin 4-(-3), Gilbert 1-(-6).
PASSING – Seneca, Clouse 2-6-1-70, Probert 0-0-0-0; Carl Junction, Gilbert 12-27-2-101, Diskin 1-1-0-5.
RECEIVING – Seneca, Ginger 2-70; Carl Junction, Wobken 4-34, Maxwell Goddard 3-30, Jett Mills 1-13, Braxton Jones 1-7, Aidan Streight 1-7, Tony Stewart 1-6, T.Jones 1-4, Hanks 1-5.
