Maine rallies around small high school in running for $1M football prize

By Matt Junker, Bangor Daily News Sports Editor

DEXTER — The Dexter Regional High School football team has won multiple state championships, but it has never had the chance to play a Friday night football game under the lights. 

That could all change if enough people vote for the Tigers as they continue to compete in T-Mobile’s “Friday Night 5G Lights Sweepstakes,” a national contest that will award $1 million to the winner for field and facilities upgrades. 

As of Oct 3, Dexter is in third place with just over 133,000 votes. Dierks High School in Arkansas is currently in the lead with over 174,000. People can vote once per day until Oct. 24. 

“We’re trying to get the whole state behind us,” said Adam Gudroe, Dexter’s athletic director and assistant principal. “But the support right now has been just phenomenal.” 

Dexter is one of 25 finalists left in the competition, and has already won a $25,000 grant as part of the process. 

If it’s able to turn out the votes, the school of fewer than 300 students could get a $1 million field upgrade along with a renovated weightroom courtesy of Gronk Fitness, a fitness brand started by former New England Patriot Rob Gronkowski’s family.

That could go a long way, especially given the state of Dexter’s current athletic facilities. 

Gudroe explained the challenges of maintaining the grass field given the realities of Maine weather and other factors. 

“Our crew here does a wonderful job at trying to make that the best it can be for our school and our athletes, but yeah, it’s uneven,” Gudroe said. “It doesn’t even have a fence all the way around it.”

He added that there isn’t even a real track. And the lack of stadium lights means that Dexter’s storied football program has been resigned to Saturday afternoon home games rather than enjoying the excitement of Friday night lights like many high school football teams. 

“We don’t have a lot going on in our small community — not a lot happening on a Friday night — and that’s why we have pretty good crowds on a Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. for our games, is because that becomes the central hub and the gathering spot for our community,” Gudroe said. “So having that opportunity on a Friday night to bring the community together and rally for our school, and our programming and our athletes would just be amazing.” 

Support from the Dexter community of fewer than 4,000 people has been overwhelming, but won’t be enough to get the Tigers over the finish line. That will take support from across Maine and beyond to help a small school take this big step forward with its athletics facilities. 

And even opposing schools are jumping on board to support the central Maine school.

“Let’s chip in to help the Tigers win this thing! You can vote once a day, every day, now through October 24,” said the Facebook page for John Bapst Memorial High School athletics in Bangor. “They’re currently sitting in 3rd and could use a boost. Please vote and share with your family and friends.” 

Whether it’s from other schools, Dexter alums now living elsewhere in Maine, statewide political figures and others, the support has been pouring in all over the place. The votes will need to keep pace, as well. 

Gudroe is hoping that improved athletic facilities in Dexter could help benefit a larger area, not just one town, as a regional resource for sporting events and practices. 

And it could certainly make a difference in the trajectory of a once-bustling mill town that has lost a central part of its industrial base in the last few decades. 

“I would say that you know anyone looking in our community from afar, or anybody living in our community, would tell you that when the industry — Dexter Shoe — left, it left a big hole,” Gudroe said. 

With that history as a backdrop, this $1 million prize could help Dexter seize on a positive future. 

“The biggest message that I get out of this entire campaign is what a positive, positive feeling that we have in our community and our area of the state,” Gudroe said. 

People in Dexter, all around Maine and elsewhere can continue to vote for the Tigers on the T-Mobile website. 

No matter the outcome of the T-Mobile contest, Gudroe is hopeful that the positive attention and atmosphere can lead to more opportunities in Dexter. 

“With so many things going on in the world that aren’t as positive, this has just been an amazing experience,” he said. “Everybody’s excited, they’re upbeat, they’re hopeful. Even in an area that has been decimated by industry leaving, we are very hopeful for this particular opportunity to come to fruition,” Gudroe said.