BRINKLEY, Ark. (KTHV) -- The Friday night lights are back on in Tiger stadium.
Two weeks ago the Brinkley High School football team had only four players but now they have seventeen. Brinkley High School Football Coach Ethan Baker said they're behind schedule but they'll be ready.
“Once they all showed up I told them we're going to have to nearly kill them to get them in shape,” he said jokingly.
As for the players, their excuse for not showing up to practice this summer was because they didn't think people cared.
“Last year we didn't have a good season and they stopped coming to the games and that hurt us a lot too,” he said.
However, junior Jasean Brink, said that's no excuse to ditch the team and the community.
“At first I didn't come in the summer because I had to work and stuff but that's no excuse, it's my fault too,” he said.
Cheerleader Aubrey Holloway agreed that there wasn't school spirit and it got the boys down.
“We didn't have enough spirit during the summer, we had it last year and we were going strong until it died out over the other sports seasons. It just took a minute to get it rallied back up,” she said.
Holloway said she’s glad everyone has been putting in the effort to show the boys they care.
“Tiger football is our heart and we cheer our hearts out for it,” she said.
The fans said they’re just as excited as the cheerleaders! Community member Kaylen Brown said she wants her son to have role models to look up to.
“I have a pee wee player and he's going to be on that field one day and I want him to be able to watch these guys and learn the game and know that one day he'll be out there,” she said.
Coach Baker said they will be ready to go for their first game, which is next Friday, September 1 at 7 p.m., against Subiaco Academy.