Under a gentle Friday night rain, about 100 people gathered at Trinity School of Texas in Longview to take part in a truly unique experience in high school sports.
Like hundreds of other schools, parents and classmates gathered to watch their school take the to gridiron in the fourth week of the season. But the similarities end there.
The field is not drained as well as other schools and one's foot sinks into the moistened ground on the sidelines. The teams have as many cheerleaders as players.
There are no bands. There is no pageantry. The cheerleaders wear light makeup and some are in rain boots instead of the tradition white sneakers.
The Titan cheerleaders are pumped at the end of the 1st.
The press box is a wooden structure behind the lone bleacher on the home side of the field. For those looking to get in a quick snack before kickoff, there is no real concession stand. Instead, a trailer a few feet from the stands serves hamburgers and chips cooked outside the field's entrance.
When it comes time for the "Star Spangled Banners," the fans turn to the north end zone toward the flag pole just in front of a group of trees separating the field and the small parking lot. Without bands, the PA announcer plays the anthem through the stadium's speaker system. Regardless, the players, coaches and crowd of about 100 people stands reverently.
Finally, 12 players, six from each team, trot onto the field for the opening kickoff. This is six-man football in Texas.
Six-man football, a relatively new sport to East Texas, is quite confusing to those who grew up on traditional football.
"The first [six-man] game I went to two years ago, I'm standing here. Trinity scores. They kick, what I think, is an extra point. The scoreboard went to eight to nothing. They came back and scored the next time, they went for what I thought would be go for two, they made it, and it's one," said Michael Eague, a fan at Friday's game. "And I'm sitting over here saying, 'I think that scorekeeper is getting the board wrong.' And the guy heard me talking and he goes, 'Man, six-man football, you kick it's two. You run in, it's one.'"
There are other unusual rules. The field is 80 yards long and 40 yards wide. It takes 15 yards to get a first down. All six players are eligible receivers.
The player who takes the snap cannot run across the line of scrimmage. Instead, you will typically see the ball snapped and pitched to a third player, who will then either pass or run.
"You gotta be in excellent shape to play this game because most them play both ways," Steve Lindsay said.
But it's still football. And that's why it's loved and accepted at Trinity and many other schools.
Trinity's program has been around for about a decade. This is typical for other six-man teams in East Texas.
Stephanie Ayala is a mother of one the players for Trinity. She also volunteers her time in the press box. For her, six-man football allowed her son to be able to participate in Texas's favorite pastime while attending the school he wants.
"My kid is playing the sport he loves and he is learning a completely different mentality to the sport he loves," Ayala said. "If it's something your kid wants to be a part of, it's something you just want to get behind."
Six-man football is a completely different experience for those who grew up on the traditional game. Fans have to have an open mind to truly accept the beauty of this sport.
The game is lightning fast at times. It's not unusual to see long runs for 40-plus yards. If a fan blinks, they may easily miss a game-changing play.
The players are usually well-conditioned as they have to play a wide-open game involving a lot of fast-moving plays.
"You have six men covering this entire field. You have to be conditioned or you're going to be worn slick by the second quarter," Ayala said. "It makes their brains think, I feel like, a lot quicker because you're having to change that strategy from traditional football."
Also notable is the hits. With a wide-open game, the hits can just as hard, if not harder, than the typical 11-man game.
"You want your kid to be the hit-er not the hit-ee, for sure," Ayala said. "The hits in six-man football, you hear the crowd a little bit more, the 'oohs' and 'ahhs' when you get drilled."
Ayala says the sport is just as risky as 11-man football, and they follow the same concussion protocol as any other football team in Texas.
Beyond the rules of the game, the style, strategy and other in-game happenings, the goals of six-man football remains the same.
For players, the game gives them an opportunity the play something they love for their team and satisfy their competitive nature in Texas's favorite past time. From a community standpoint the goal is to develop comradery among students, parents, families, faculty and alumni.
"Most of the kids are not going on major NCAA scholarships, but they are great athletes that want to use that skill and that talent," Ayala said. "And I think that's why communities like ours really rally behind that. We want those kids to have that same experience that they might have at a larger school."
At the end of the day, that's what high school football, whether it's six-man or eleven-man, is all about in Texas. It is the experience for the students to go into each game, itching for a moment in glory under the lights.
