Newton High School finishes eighth and gets $31K in T-Mobile sweepstakes

Out of the 25 school districts across the country who were made finalists in the T-Mobile Friday Night 5G Lights program, Newton High School ended up in eighth place with more than 271,000 votes from the community and state, trailing behind the Arkansas-based Dierks High School with almost 2 million votes.

According to the press release from T-Mobile, a total of 8 million votes were cast across all finalists. Although the Cardinals miss out on the grand prize of $1 million for stadium upgrades, the high school is still taking home $31,000 to help fund an update and a refresh to the building’s weight room.

“Your unity and perseverance have made our Friday Night 5G Lights journey unforgettable and is the reason we made it as a top 25 finalist out of 2,176 applications across the entire nation,” the Newton football team said in a statement. “Thank you for being part of something so special and inspiring!”

In addition to the prize money, the winner of the competition gets a professional consultation with a stadium experience expert, an upgraded weight room, a tailgate party in 2026 and an all-expense-paid trip for selected school reps to the 2025 SEC Championship game.

Andy Swedenhjelm, head coach of the Cardinals football team, previously told Newton News he submitted an application to the sweepstakes and wrote about how the grand prize could help the school, the community and H.A. Lynn Stadium. For being a finalist, the school is guaranteed a $25,000 grant.

Between a community member lobbying the district to add handrails to visitors side bleachers — prompting a full replacement — and general accessibility improvements and calls for a new press box, upgrades to the Cardinal’s home field have been a frequent topic of discussion this past year.

Swedenhjelm himself has called for infrastructure upgrades to the more than 80-year-old stadium, as well as an improvements plan.

“We’ve had lots of pubic comment on upgrades we can make to our stadium and stuff like that,” Swedenhjelm said previously. “That’s been a big, hot button topic in our community. There’s the ADA accessibility, and there’s a lot of people who wish we had lockers still underneath the stadium.”

Community members rallied behind the Cardinals and voted for the high school daily with the help of some encouragement from notable figures like Newton alum Sarah Haines and even Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds. Voting was open until Oct. 24.