How Long Are High School Football Games?

For a football lover, it is still a mystery “Why do high school games last short?” Are you a football lover and wondering to get an answer to this question? If yes, you should know “How long are high school football games?”

In this blog, we are going to answer this question and many others related to high school football games. By reading this blog, you will be able to get answers to various questions. It will also help you in understanding the game duration in different aspects. Let’s get started without wasting time.

How Long Are High School Football Games?

Normally, high school football games take around 2 to 2.5 hours to complete. No doubt, this length is shorter than games played in different leagues including National Football League (NFL). There are many reasons behind this short duration that we will discuss in the following sections.

Keep in mind that this duration can also vary with regions and high schools. It means that not all high schools prefer to play football games of this length. Some high schools have particular rules to follow that can change the length of the duration.

So, if you are a football player or organizer, you can ask the authorities “How long are high school football games?” as per their rules. It will be better to organize the game properly without having problems in this duration.

Why Do High School Football Games Take Less Time As Compared to NFL?

The main question that many people ask is why high school games last short as compared to NFL. In this section, we are going to discuss some points to let you understand this.

On a lighter note, you should be clear that NFL games are played at the national or international level and high school games are played at a small level. Let us now show you some reasons that keep the length of high school games shorter than the NFL.

Less Formality

The main reason is the formality of the games on both levels. As mentioned earlier, NFL games are played at a high level while school games are played at a small level. Due to this, these games are not formal as NFL games.

That is why these games take less time the completion as compared to league games. Along with this, the time duration is enough to fulfill the requirements of the games. For a high school player, the only reason to play is to show the potential in his skills to coaches for the selection of the national team.

This time is enough to do so for any player and the coaches to select players with football skills. Secondly, the high school team coaches want to show authorities that they have invested the money in the right section to promote the game in school. A two hours football game is enough to do so and let the administrator estimate whether their funds have been invested in the right direction or not.

No Commercial Ads

In NFL games, a prominent proportion of time is taken by commercial ads. It increases the duration of the game because the players have to stop the game until the ads are going on. The reason behind stopping the game is an injury of a player or anything else.

In high school football games, there is no such thing that is called commercial ads. It is right to say that there will be not a single advertisement video or banner placed on the screen of the game. In this way, the duration of the match becomes short as compared to NFL games.

Also, high school games don’t have a prominent number of injured players. In addition to this, they can quickly replace the player with others if anyone has injured. Both these factors collectively reduce the time duration of high school football games.

Shorter Halftimes

As mentioned above, high school games are not formal as NFL football games. Due to this, such games include only a few formal rules of the game. In high school football games, the halftime is also shorter than the formal halftime of the game.

Like NFL games, halftime comes between the second and third quarters of the game. It is almost 10 to 20 minutes long in high school games while the duration extends in the NFL games. Because of the short halftime, the overall duration of the game also becomes short.

Less Player Health

Everyone knows that NFL games are selected after a proper health inspection. The physical test and the practice after that make them strong. It also increases the player’s health due to which they can play easily for hours without taking even a single break.

In high school games, players can also be selected in terms of passion. Due to this, the player’s health might be lower than the players of NFL games. That is why high school games are kept shorter to keep the players active and healthy at the same time.

Is There Any Chance of Short High School Football Games?

Sometimes, high school games are shorter than the above-mentioned duration. The question comes from what happened and why the games are quit even before the timeout. Keep in mind that high school football games and NFL games both can be shorter than the normal duration.

It is because of many reasons one of which is the mercy rule. Let us tell you what this rule is and how it works.

What is Mercy Rule?

It is a specific rule according to which a game is ended instantly under a particular condition. If one team has earned points that are impossible to beat by the second team, the coaches can stop the game instantly to avoid more embarrassment for their players.

This specific rule is called the “Mercy Rule”. It is not a common rule because it is rare that players lose hope because of sportsmanship. Almost every high school football player has strong sportsmanship. In this way, they oppose the decision of stopping the play instantly even when there is a huge difference between their points.

Is There Any Game That Takes Less Time Than High School Football Games?

Yes, Youth Football games take less duration even than high school football games. These games take around 1 to 1.5 hours the completion. These games have different perspectives due to which these are completed in a short duration than all other football games.

Can a Football Game Stop Instantly Even When the Time is Left?

Yes, it is possible to quit the match even when the complete half is remaining. It happens mostly because of Marcy’s rule. This rule applies when the first half has been completed and one team is far ahead of the other team.

Under this rule, the clock of the game can also be set differently. In normal football games, the clock stops counting time with the whistle of the umpire when the players have stopped. Under this rule, the clock keeps counting the time even when the players have stopped to play. In this way, the entire duration of the game becomes shorter than the average time limit.

Final Words

With the above guide, you must have got an idea about “How long are high school football games?” We have also discussed other queries related to this question and game. You may have gotten exact information about your confusion in this regard.