by William Engelman

Created on: August 16, 2009   Last Updated: August 18, 2009

In American Football there is one goal, invading the opponent's territory. It is not a new concept by any means. Take a ball or an object and penetrate your enemy's territory until you have finally taken the castle or end zone.

This is a concept that has been around since the dawn of man; thankfully we are civilized and have made it a sport. The more you invade the territory and breach the base the more points you are awarded. The group of warriors with the most points at the end of the day wins! That is American style football.

Two teams meet at a line of scrimmage and battle back and forth to get the ball into the others end zone. Each team has four chances to take the ball ten yards, until ultimately they are on enemy soil and then invade the enemy's base.

The scoring system in American Football compared to other sports is a little complicated, there are five ways to score. These are the methods of scoring, Touchdown, Field Goal, Safety, Extra Point, and Two Point conversion. I will explain each in detail.

Touchdown

This method of scoring is really what the game is all about. Compared to the other forms, a Touchdown awards you the most points and is really the reason that players are out on that field. A touchdown is when the Football has crossed into the enemy's safe zone that they are protecting. Each team has Fifty yards too defend called their territory; at the end of the fifty yards is the end zone that is simply like the base or castle of the enemy. Once a player has physically reached into their opponent's zone with a football in hand, running it in can do this or passing it to a player in the end zone, the team receives six points.

Field Goal

At the back of the end zone is a large monument called the goal post or uprights, the goal post is a vulnerable target for a team to attack. If a team cannot seem to get the ball physically into an end zone then they can shoot the ball at the target. A team, once they are close enough, can kick the football between the uprights and receive three points. It is not the same as invading the opposition's end zone but is a way to attack from a long distance and score some points.

Extra Point & Two Point Conversion

After a touchdown, the team that has scored is awarded another chance to score from the twenty-yard line of the opposing teams territory. They have a choice to kick the ball through the goal post or to try to penetrate the end zone by sending in one of the troops with the ball. If a team kicks they are given one extra point, if the team tries to keep it on the ground and penetrate the end zone they receive two extra points. It should be noted that the extra opportunity is only awarded after a touchdown and is not awarded after a field goal.

Safety

A rare form of scoring that is really unprecedented in any other sport is a safety. A safety is awarded when a team is tackled in their end zone. When this occurrence should happen the opposing team is awarded two points.

Those are the five ways to score on the battlefield of 100 yards, and it is truly a sight to watch. Grown men attacking each other relentlessly until one team is proven victorious, that is what makes the game of American Football brilliant. Hopefully this can help with understanding how a team can score, and give insight if someone is new to the game.

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