Has an AFL game ever ended 97-31?
It has. 97-31 has been a AFL final 2 times in 16,622 games. The first was Sydney beat Carlton on August 23, 1924; the latest was Essendon beat Sydney on August 21, 1965.
That makes 97-31 the 2421st most common final score out of 6,607 that have ever occurred in AFL. One point away, 98-31 has happened never and 97-32 has happened never. At one point the score disappeared for 41 years, between 1924 and 1965.