Friday Night Lights Just Went Out

The switch got flipped on Crescent Valley High School football...

Aug 12, 2026

www.corvallisnow.com

Crescent Valley High School had already won $5,000. The football program was rallying the community. If everything went right, the Raiders had a clear path… and a chance… toward a $1 million football field upgrade.

It’s not just a $1 million “football” field upgrade. As a reader reported “an upgraded stadium at Crescent Valley High would benefit the football team, the soccer team, the track and field team, and the lacrosse team.” Honestly, it would have benefited many more people than that.

Then the lights went out.

(Photo: Crescent Valley Football)

Crescent Valley Athletics announced that the school will no longer participate in T-Mobile’s 2026 Friday Night 5G Lights competition, saying it was “unable to commit to the program requirements during this school year.”

We reached out to Crescent Valley High School Athletic Director Jon Strowbridge for clarification on why they were unable to commit. We have not received a response yet, but we will post more information when we do. If we do.

T-Mobile’s Friday Night 5G Lights is a nationwide competition aimed at high schools in communities with populations of 150,000 or fewer.

For the 2026 school year, the program is much larger than it was last year. T-Mobile says 1,000 schools will receive $5,000 through its weekly sweepstakes. Forty schools will become divisional finalists and receive $25,000, four divisional champions receive $250,000, and one school ultimately receives a $1 million home-field upgrade.

If you think it’s a long shot, it’s not. Crescent Valley had already cleared the first hurdle.

The school announced it had been selected as one of the $5,000 winners and began encouraging students, parents, alumni, and community members to participate on social media.

That sounds odd, but the social media strategy is actually built into the competition. And obviously designed to help promote T-Mobile. T-Mobile encourages communities to post photos and videos on Instagram or X, tag the school and T-Mobile, using the required hashtags.

We’ll say it again. If you think it’s a long shot, it’s not. Sitting about 35 miles down Highway 34, is Lebanon High School. Last year, Lebanon High School became Oregon’s Cinderella story in the same competition.

Lebanon was selected as one of 25 national finalists. They spent weeks mobilizing students, staff, parents, businesses, and anyone else willing to click a voting button.

It worked.

Lebanon accumulated 1,457,848 votes and finished second in the nation, behind Dierks High School in Arkansas. T-Mobile ultimately awarded Lebanon an additional $100,000 for its runner-up finish.

Depending on which awards are counted, contemporary reports put Lebanon’s total winnings at $126,000 to $131,000. The district reported $1,000 for applying, $25,000 for becoming a finalist, and $100,000 for finishing second; another account also included a $5,000 sweepstakes award. The money was directed toward improvements at Heath Stadium.

This week, the athletics program at Crescent Valley High School posted:

“Crescent Valley Football was honored to be selected for a $5,000 award through the T-Mobile Friday Night 5G Lights competition, but due to district limitations this school year, we are unable to accept the award or continue in the contest”

What exactly were those requirements or district limitations? This is what we inquired about to the athletic director. We asked a few parents. No one had an answer.

It’s still a developing story. And answers will be had.

Without answers, we have to look at the contest requirements. This is where things get interesting.

T-Mobile publishes a very detailed official rules for the 2026 competition. It wasn’t fun. We hate rules. But we went through them.

To enter, an authorized school representative has to provide basic school information, including the school’s tax ID, address, website, social-media accounts, and contacts.

The application also requires a photo of the football field, the school logo, a photo or video demonstrating school spirit, and a 200 - 700 word explanation of why the field needs an upgrade and how it would benefit the community.

Schools selected for prizes also have paperwork obligations. For the $5,000 sweepstakes prize, T-Mobile’s rules require winners to return an affidavit of eligibility, liability, and publicity release, and any other documents requested by the sponsor within five days.

A “publicity release” in this case, most likely refers to T-Mobile being able to use the school’s likeness and image to promote or advertise their brand. Lebanon High School probably found this a fair trade for a $100,000+ award.

We could not find a requirement in T-Mobile’s published rules requiring Crescent Valley or the Corvallis School District to provide any matching funds in order to participate. The very first line of T-Mobile’s official rules says “no purchase is necessary to enter or win.”

It’s not that simple, though. It never is. There are most likely some significant obligations if a school “goes all the way” and wins the $1 million grand prize.

The school must have the rights and approvals necessary to make improvements to its football field. A grand-prize winner must cooperate with T-Mobile, obtain necessary permits and governmental approvals, and be able to complete approved improvements before August 1, 2027.

The rules additionally state that prize winners are responsible for applicable taxes and costs associated with accepting or using prizes that aren’t expressly covered by T-Mobile.

So, in theory, winning the $1 million could create administrative responsibilities and potentially “added expenses” to the prize itself, depending on the project.

We could not find anything stating that Crescent Valley needed to spend money on, in order to simply accept its $5,000 award or remain in the competition.

T-Mobile’s own FAQ also addresses district approval directly. It says that if a superintendent’s pre-authorization is required, obtaining that approval is the school’s responsibility before submitting its application.

What happened at Crescent Valley High School? We don’t know yet. Right now, it’s a developing news story, and there are two sides to every story.

Not a lot of athletics departments… or we could say “cash strapped” school districts… would turn down $5,000, and the very real possibility of much more.

Lebanon High School didn’t turn it down.

Crescent Valley Athletics’ statement doesn’t identify which “program requirements” it couldn’t meet. The football program’s statement points specifically to “district limitations.”

Those don’t have to be contradictory explanations. District policies, authorization requirements, staffing limitations, legal review, or the administrative obligations associated with accepting prizes could conceivably prevent a school from proceeding.

Based on what we researched in the rules, there are responsibilities attached to participation, particularly if Crescent Valley won, and reached the $1 million construction phase… but the publicly available rules don’t explain why the school couldn’t accept the $5,000 it had already won and continue pursuing additional prizes.

Friday Night 5G Lights are still shining for other high schools, but for the Raiders, that switch has been flipped.

If you are a parent, an educator, a team member, or a coaching staff member, and you have more information. Please feel free to reach out: editor@corvallisnow.com

This article was written by Derek S., a contributor to The Corvallis Inquirer. Feel free to send us your stories or articles to publish at: editor@corvallisnow.com