When Lakeland High School Athletic Director Matt Neff graduated as a Lakeland Hawk in 1992, the school had a brand new stadium.

More than three decades later, that stadium is looking worse for wear.

“It’s not hard for anybody in this community or state to recognize how much we have grown in 30-plus years,” Neff said. “We’re living in the same house. We’re too big for this house.”

Routinely, up to 5,000 people cram into the stadium, meant to hold about 1,500, to watch a football game. But that could all change this fall.

Lakeland is one of 25 schools nationwide chosen as a finalist for the T-Mobile Friday Night Lights competition. The school that secures the most votes by Oct. 24 will win a $1 million stadium makeover and a weight room refresh from retired NFL star Rob Gronkowski’s Gronk Fitness.

For Daniel Killian, student body president and current Lakeland senior, the competition is about leaving a lasting impact for the class of 2025.

“Everybody wants to leave a good legacy for their senior year,” Killian said. “So being able to be that senior class that won this is just a great legacy.”

The current stadium isn’t just used for Friday night football, Neff said. It’s used for track meets and cross country. Lakeland Middle School doesn’t have a track so younger students use it, too.

The facility is also open to the public 24/7, Neff said, so it’s not uncommon to see a group of moms getting in their steps in the evening.

The stadium’s outdatedness is on full display during big events like homecoming, when parents push into the student section and school spirit leaders are tasked with managing the crowd, Killian said.

“At any given game you’re going to see people filling the stands then overflow on each side,” said Jacquie Neff, who helps run the district’s social media pages.

“Sitting on the blanket in the dirt,” her brother-in-law, Matt Neff added.

This isn’t Lakeland’s first time competing, the district won $5,000 in the first round last year. But this year the Lakeland Hawks made it to the finals, winning $30,000 in the process.

“It has happened so fast that we have not even been able to wrap our head around that,” Neff said of what the district will do with the funds it already won. “We’re so focused on kind of this next step.”

Lakeland has until Oct. 24 to secure enough votes to win the makeover. At the end of September, Lakeland was in fourth place, more than 20,000 votes behind the leading high school.

Students are covering the school in fliers. Killian is even handing them out at his after school job at McDonalds. They’re also posting on Instagram, Facebook at TikTok with the #fn5gl to showcase Lakeland’s school spirit, another part of the contest.

Lakeland is the only school in Idaho to make it to the final round of the competition. To win, Neff said it will take not just the local community but the whole state.

“We are looking at this as team Idaho,” Neff said.

Other school districts have secured celebrity social media shout outs to get out the vote, Neff noted.

“What’s going to win this is going to be that big name person out there that tags onto this and says let’s help Lakeland High School win,” Neff said.

To vote for Lakeland High School, visit their Friday Night Lights competition page and follow @lakelandhigh on Instagram for updates.