Penalties and their impact on HS Game Results
The following article analyzes the results of 131 High School Games in Hillsborough County, Florida.

2003 High School FootballSurvey

Hillsborough County, Florida

(131 High School Games Analyzed)

By Jim Reese, CompuSports Network Staff Writer
Teams with more penalty yards in a game won 67% of the time. In a similar number of college games in 2003, the number was 52%, while in the NFL, the number was 45%.

In the first half of the season, teams with more penalty yards won only 58% of the games. In the second half of the season, that number was 80%.

When teams with more penalty yards won, they did so with a point differential that was 53% greater than when teams with fewer penalty yards won.

In Week One, only 38% of the games were won by a team with more penalty yards. In Week Ten, the higher penalized teams won 85% of the games.

Of 131 games, 29 (22%) were shutouts. The average score was 35-0 and the more penalized teams won 83% of those games.

In comparing the top ranked 12 college teams and the top 12 Hillsborough County teams, it was found that the high school teams had 84 penalty yards per game as compared to 58 for the college teams, a difference of 45% more penalty yards for the high schools. (The numbers were adjusted to allow for the forty-eight minute high school game to be compared to the sixty-minute college game.)

Turnovers, i.e., lost fumbles and interceptions, played a major role during the season. 74% of the time, the team with fewer turnovers won. There were ten teams with winning records in Hillsborough County. Nine of those ten teams finished the season in the plus category in turnover ratio. The tenth team missed by just one turnover. Conversely, 11 of the 13 teams with losing records finished in the minus column in turnover ratio. Four teams finished with a .500 record.

Home teams won 61% of the time, teams scoring first won 75% of their games, teams getting the first two scores of a game won at a 92% rate, and teams ahead at the half won 91% of the time.

There were a total of 51 returns for scores in 2003. There were 17 fumbles, 15 interceptions, 12 kickoffs, six punts, and one field goal returned for touchdowns.

40 of the 51 returns (78%) were scored by the winning team.

There were a total of 86 plays (54 run and 32 pass) of more than 50 yards from scrimmage that resulted in touchdowns. The winners had 60 of those 86 big plays (70%).

There were 211 touchdown passes in 2003, an increase of 30 over 2002.

The 13 most penalized teams finished 82-48. The13 least penalized teams were 40-75.
Jim Reese was a quarterback and assistant coach at the University of Minnesota. He is now retired and lives in Tampa, Florida, where he reports on sports for a local newspaper. Jim is a Staff Writer for the CompuSports Network, sharing the wisdom he has gained during his career in coaching. Comment on this Article
Learn about and download Jim’s eBook, How to Win at Flag Football