Football Stat Sheet

This stat sheet covers 22 players (a full offensive or defensive roster) with columns split across offense and defense. Offensive columns cover passing (completions, attempts, yards, touchdowns, interceptions), rushing (attempts, yards, touchdowns), and receiving (receptions, yards, touchdowns). Defensive columns track total tackles, solo tackles, sacks, fumbles forced, and fumbles recovered. Team totals fill the last row, summing every column so you can compare individual output against the full roster at a glance. A quarter-by-quarter scoring box sits below the main table.

How to Use This Template

Fill in player names and jersey numbers before kickoff. During the game, assign one person to offense and another to defense if possible. After each drive, record passing, rushing, and receiving totals for the quarterback and skill position players. Defensive stats are harder to track in real time, so focus on tackles and sacks first, then add fumble data between possessions. After the game, cross-check your totals against the official scoreboard and the play-by-play if one is available.

Football uses more statistical abbreviations than most sports because offense, defense, and special teams each have their own categories. The NFL stats page(opens in new tab) and Pro-Football-Reference.com(opens in new tab) both use these abbreviations across their player and team stat tables. The reference below covers every abbreviation you will see on a standard football stat sheet, from passing and rushing to kicking.

Offensive Stats Explained

Passing stats revolve around the completion/attempt ratio. A quarterback who goes 18/27 for 220 yards completed 67% of his passes. Touchdowns and interceptions are the scoreboard numbers, but completion percentage and yards per attempt reveal how efficiently a quarterback moved the ball. Rushing stats are simpler: carries and yards, with yards per carry (YPC) as the efficiency metric. A running back with 15 carries for 75 yards (5.0 YPC) had a productive game regardless of whether he scored. Receiving stats add targets (TGT), which show how often a receiver was intended to catch the ball versus how many he actually caught.

Defensive Stats Explained

Tackles are the base defensive stat. Total tackles combine solo (unassisted) and assisted tackles. Sacks count only when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage on a passing play. Tackles for loss (TFL) include sacks plus any tackle behind the line on a running play. Fumbles forced (FF) and fumbles recovered (FR) track ball security impact. Passes defended (PD) combine interceptions and pass breakups, giving a fuller picture of a defensive back's coverage ability than interceptions alone. T/G (tackles per game) is calculated by dividing total tackles by games played and is commonly used on scouting reports to normalize for missed games.

High school programs rarely need separate columns for every offensive and defensive subcategory. The template below simplifies the full stat sheet by combining passing and rushing touchdowns into one TD column and dropping the separate fumble categories. The result is 11 stat columns that one person can manage during a game. Each state athletic association sets its own stat reporting requirements, so check whether yours asks for additional categories like tackles for loss or passes defended.

What High School Scouts Track

College recruiters reviewing high school stats focus on a small set of numbers. For quarterbacks: completion percentage, touchdowns-to-interception ratio, and yards per attempt. For running backs: yards per carry and total touchdowns. For receivers: catch rate (receptions divided by targets) and yards per reception. For defensive players: tackles per game, sacks, and turnovers forced. Having these stats available season-over-season helps you build a recruiting profile. If you track player development alongside game stats, see our football player profile template for a recruiting-ready layout.

MaxPreps and Online Stat Reporting

Many high school programs submit stats to MaxPreps(opens in new tab) or their state association's reporting system. These platforms accept the same categories shown on the sheet above. Keeping a paper stat sheet as your source of truth during the game, then entering the data online after, prevents real-time entry errors caused by spotty Wi-Fi in press boxes and outdoor venues.

Flag football tracks the same offensive categories as tackle football (passing, rushing, receiving) but replaces tackle stats with flag pulls. There are no sacks in most flag leagues since the quarterback has a limited rush clock, and there are no fumble categories since the ball is dead when it hits the ground. The flag football practice plan article covers drill design for the skills that show up on this sheet.

Adapting the Sheet to Your League Rules

Flag football leagues vary widely in format. Some play 5v5 with no rushing allowed, which means the rushing columns on your stat sheet stay empty and you only need passing, receiving, and flag pulls. Others play 7v7 with a rush clock, so quarterback scrambles and designed runs appear in the rushing columns. Before printing, check your league's rulebook for the number of players per side, whether rushing is allowed, and whether interception returns count for points. Adjust or cross out columns that do not apply to your format.

What Flag Pull Numbers Tell You

Flag pulls are the flag football equivalent of tackles. A player with a high flag pull count is consistently getting to the ball carrier and making the stop. Unlike tackle football where missed tackles show up indirectly (yards after contact, broken tackles), a missed flag pull in flag football simply means no stat is recorded. Track flag pulls per game to identify your most reliable defenders and spot players who need more reps on pursuit angles.

Football stat tracking is harder than most sports because 22 players are on the field at once and plays happen in rapid succession. Unlike basketball where one scorekeeper can cover the full box score, football benefits from splitting responsibilities between two or three people.

Assign Roles Before Kickoff

• Offensive statistician. Tracks passing, rushing, and receiving stats for your team only. Watches the quarterback and ball carrier on every play.
• Defensive statistician. Records tackles, sacks, and turnovers. Watches where the ball carrier is stopped and which defender made the play.
• Spotter (optional). Calls out jersey numbers to the statisticians. Especially helpful at the youth level where jersey numbers can be hard to read from the stands.

During the Game

• Record after each play, not during. Football has a natural pause between plays (huddle, play clock). Use this window to write down what happened on the previous play. Trying to write while the ball is live leads to missed data.
• Track drives, not individual plays. For most programs, tracking individual play results (complete pass, 12 yards, to #84) is too granular. Instead, tally each player's totals per drive and sum them at halftime and after the game.
• Mark penalties separately. Penalty yards affect team totals but not individual stats in most stat systems. Keep a separate tally of accepted penalties (type and yardage) rather than mixing them into player rows.

After the Game

Add up each column and verify that total passing yards plus total rushing yards roughly matches your team's total offensive yardage. Check that the number of touchdowns times the appropriate point value (6 for TDs, plus extra points) aligns with the final score. If the numbers do not match, review your passing and rushing tallies first since those are the most common sources of discrepancy. Film review, when available, is the most reliable way to correct stat sheet errors.

A paper stat sheet captures one game at a time. When you need to compare a player's performance across eight regular-season games, calculate season averages, or share stats with parents on the drive home, paper runs into its limits.

Where a Printed Sheet Still Makes Sense

• Friday night games where your press box has limited connectivity
• Youth recreation leagues where a parent volunteer handles stats for the first time
• Preseason scrimmages where you want quick notes, not full data entry
• Backup recording when your primary stat system depends on a phone or tablet

When Digital Adds Value

• Season-long stat tracking with automatic per-game averages
• Connecting game performance to practice plan decisions (which skills need more reps based on game data)
• Building scouting reports and recruiting profiles that pull from real game numbers
• Sharing stat summaries with players and parents immediately after games

When your coaching staff needs to compare Friday night box scores with Tuesday practice evaluations, doing that across paper sheets and spreadsheets gets tedious fast. Platforms like Striveon let you store game stats and practice assessments in one place so you can spot trends across the full season. Explore how Striveon handles athlete evaluation and stat tracking.