american football is played on a field long by wide. most of the game is played on in the middle. it is divided by 20 lines drawn every . the field has two other sets of markings, running between the two end zones along the length of the field, known as "hashmarks". all plays must start between the hashmarks—if the last play ended outside the hashmarks, the ball is moved to the nearest hashmark. at the ends of the field there are scoring areas, called the end zones.