T-Mobile Challenge
NewsT-MOBILE CHALLENGE
Hughson High School Enters the T-Mobile Challenge
August 21, 2025
For the second year in a row, Hughson High School will compete in the T-Mobile Friday Night 5G Lights Competition. Last year, the little town with a big heart got behind its team, securing 700,000 votes in the first T-Mobile Friday Night 5G Lights Competition. During the course of the multi-month competition, Hughson won $30,000 for its team.
Of the 1750 schools from all 50 states that applied to participate, Hughson made it to the final round of 16 schools, with just two schools in California. Finalists received $25,000 and began a social media competition to send and share the Instagram video made by Hughson Football. The video with the greatest number of likes won the competition.
Now a new competition begins. Only the top twenty-five schools will move on. To become a finalist, “we need EVERYONE; students, teachers, administrators, parents, and the rest of the town and beyond involved by rallying to create content for our school and town to share on Instagram, X (formerly Twitter) and other social channels (i.e., Facebook, TikTok, etc.). This content can include past and present Husky pride and all that Hughson has to offer (Spirit days, rallies, parades, etc),” Melinda King, who led the campaign last year, posted, kicking off the social media campaign.
Hughson High School entered the competition on August 12 and has until September 12 to “show the world and @tmobile what Hughson is all about!” King said.
This year’s competition will hand out over $4 million in total prizes. $5K Fridays giveaways will award $5000 to 450 schools: 100 in the first week and 50 each week after for seven weeks. Twenty-five finalists will win $25,000 for their football programs. New this year, T-Mobile employees will have the chance to vote for their “Fan Favorite” and award that school $25,000.
The grand prize winner will receive a $1 million football field upgrade, a renovated weight room from Gronk Fitness, a consultation with stadium experience experts, an all-expense-paid trip to the SEC Championship Game for select school officials and students and a tailgate party revealing the finalized upgrades in 2026.
Of the 900 students enrolled, 60-70% of the student body are student-athletes. Close to 120 students participate in Hughson’s football program, including 60 on the Varsity team alone.
According to Athletic Director Justice Futch, Hughson High School Memorial Stadium and Weight Room are in need of an upgrade. “The press box, restrooms, and snack shack are due for replacing. They are very old and are withering on us,” he said. “The layouts of those buildings have made gameday operations a bit difficult, although we manage. Our scoreboard screen no longer works, and we are due for a new scoreboard. The stadium sound system and lighting could use upgrades. Our field has a very large crown in the middle of the field, so leveling out the crown a bit and resodding the field would do wonders for the playing field.”
In the big weight room, dumbbells need replacing, and new equipment is needed for more functional training or weightlifting that translates to sports skills. New rubber flooring would maximize the space that is used for 6-8 hours every day.
The competition is open to high schools in U.S. towns with populations under 150,000.
A panel of judges will select 25 finalists based on community impact, need, creativity and more. Public voting runs from September 25 to October 24, and anyone in the country can vote once per day through FridayNight5GLights.com. Finalists may also earn bonus votes by completing weekly “Social Plays” posted on the Friday Night 5G Lights website.
The Grand Prize Winner will be announced on Oct. 30.
With just one month to make their mark, the Huskies are calling on the whole community to “get out there and start creating! Be creative and have fun!”
Here’s how Hughson fans can help:
- Follow the Hughson High Football social media pages and like its posts.
- @hughsonhighfootball on Instagram,
- Hughson High School Football on Facebook
- @Hughsonfootball on X
- @hughson_high_football on TikTok
- Post content that showcases Hughson High School Football or Husky pride on social media and includes these four tags: @tmobile, #FN5GL, @hughsonhighfootball and #sweepstakes. All four tags must be used for the post to count.
- Set their personal IG page to “public” so their posts are viewable by all.