The Hughson community is known for its passion for its football team. That enthusiasm already has earned the high school $5,000 toward upgrades at Husky Memorial Stadium. Now, organizers and school officials have their eyes on an even bigger prize in a nationwide contest.

The Friday Night Lights program offered by T-Mobile kicked off two weeks ago. Every week through Sept. 20, T-Mobile will award $5,000 to 50 schools from across the country whose fans demonstrate their support on Instagram. Hughson’s IG campaign – led by Melinda King (wife of football coach Shaun King) and school officials – was recognized in week 1. But the contest did not end there.

The chance exists to make even more money and become one of 16 finalists to receive a $25,000 award in early October. The final 16 schools each will host a T-Mobile celebration at a home football game on Oct. 10. The school who shows the most spirit in a 90-second hype video and rallies its community to generate the most likes on Instagram will earn $100,000. T-Mobile will announce the winner in early December.

“The goal is to show what small-town Friday Night Lights is all about and how our community rallies around it,” said Melinda King, who teaches at Ross Middle School.

Here’s how Hughson fans can help:

·         Follow the Hughson High Football IG page @hughsonhighfootball and like its posts.

·         Fans also should post their Hughson Husky experiences on Instagram (posts or reels only) and include these four tags: @tmobile, #FN5GL, @hughsonhighfootball and #sweepstakes. All four tags must be used for the post to count.

·         Set their personal IG page is set to “public” so their posts are viewable by all.

King and others have created videos, picture collages and other fun content, and posted multiple times each day. Some of the posts include T-Mobile swag the company has sent. She encouraged community members to be creative and shared some examples.

“A video collage of our local businesses with their windows painted in Husky spirit, a video of our cheerleaders and football players greeting students at the elementary school before school on a Friday morning, a video of the crowd in the stands, and the national anthem during our first home game in Husky Stadium,” she said. “The video and pictures go on and on.”

Anything that shows black and gold, school spirit, community support of the school teams, game footage, player pictures, cheerleaders, youth football and cheer, and community rec teams that are Husky affiliated is appropriate. Past and present photos also are welcome, including alumni posts of their time in Husky Stadium.

“With Homecoming being this week, we hope that the entire community will share this small-town tradition with Instagram and include these four tags -- @tmobile, #FN5GL, @hughsonhighfootball and #sweepstakes -- to show the world what living in Hughson is all about,” King said. “No one does Homecoming like we do. The same goes for Friday Night Lights in Husky Stadium.”

Hughson High Principal Loren Lighthall said whatever amount of money the promotion generates will be put to good use.

“The stadium needs upgrades in every area,” he said. “The field, restrooms, stands, scoreboard and snack bar all need attention. Winning this funding starts the process of addressing those needs. We have first-rate athletic programs and those kids deserve first-rate facilities.”