It's not uncommon for football booster parents to provide a postgame meal for their teams each Friday night. In a way, Kim Banz and Kerrie Frazier are fulfilling that role for Putnam City West (Okla.) High, with two notable exceptions: They aren't booster parents, and they didn't know anyone on the team before they started feeding them.

Instead, according to a story from The Oklahoman, the two women stepped forward to feed the team after each game following a news report that portrayed the rapid rising poverty among the families within the Putnam City West community. According to data from the 2009-10 school year, more than 70 percent of Putnam City West students were eligible for free or reduced-price school lunches, and some school officials estimate that percentage may be as high as 90 percent in the 2010-11 year.

That kind of poverty meant that some PC West players might not get enough meals until they return for school on Monday. Banz and Frazier -- both of whom live within two

Remember the scene in "The Natural" where Roy Hobbs hits a home run and the stadium lights explode? Well, Georgia got to witness the high school football version of that episode on Friday night during a game between Marietta (Ga.) High and Walton (Ga.) High.

Someone should have cued the soundtrack for the movie version of "Friday Night Lights," performed by (you guessed it) Explosions in the Sky.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Michael Carvell and the Marietta Daily Journal, the lights on the right side of one of Marietta Northcutt Stadium's end zone exploded while the Marietta Blue Devils celebrated a first-quarter touchdown with just six seconds remaining in the period. Sparks flew everywhere, providing the impression that fireworks were exploding to celebrate the Marietta score.

Given the fact that it was senior night in Marietta, that idea wasn't completely far fetched, either.

"There were sparks everywhere, it looked like a celebratory fireworks display -- in

Usually, when a student admits to taking an illegal substance, the confession alone guarantees the end of his or her season. In the case of Bingham (Utah) High star running back Harvey Langi, the very drug test meant to confirm his guilt may have saved his senior campaign.

According to the Deseret News, Langi first admitted to smoking marijuana after he and three friends were caught trespassing at a construction site on Oct. 17. Langi admitted to using the drug when pressured by police. Then, when school officials learned of the arrest some 10 days later, they suspended Langi and a teammate who was also arrested for the rest of the season, per the pair's violation of team rules.

That's when the senior star insisted he hadn't smoked at all, and claimed he only admitted using the drug when nervous while being questioned by officers. Langi and his teammate were both administered drug tests, and both came back clean, to the surprise of the police who arrested the pair in the first place.

Torrington (Conn.) High running back Brenden Lytton didn't just have a big game in Friday night's 61-28 rout of Wilby (Conn.) High, he had an all-time record game.

According to the Litchfield County Register Citizen, Lytton scored a state-record nine touchdowns during a 332-yard rushing performance in the Raiders' latest victory. He also added five extra points for good measure, pushing his personal single-game scoring total to an astounding 59 points.

"This team is a family," Torrington coach Dan Dunaj told the Register Citizen. "Brenden deserves everything he gets and his teammates are always behind him."

On Friday, Lytton was able to push for the state record in part because Wilby found just enough offense to keep the game going and avoid the state's new "mercy rule." According to Connecticut regulations, if a team wins a game by 50 or more points, that team's coach is suspended for the following week's contest, providing ample incentive to avoid blowouts at all costs. Torrington

A strange suspension stemming from an incident during a school's spirit week proves that you can have too much school spirit, at least in the state of Massachusetts.

According to the Boston Globe, Hamilton-Wenham (Mass.) High student Dan DePaolis was suspended for two days last week for riding his family's horse around the perimeter of the school, imitating a knight. DePaolis was led by a friend wearing a squire costume, and the horse walker was also suspended for a day -- and forced to perform two hours of community service -- for his involvement in the stunt.

Hamilton-Wenham's teams are known as the Generals, so the stunt wasn't based on the school's mascot itself.

"They told my son it's the equivalent of bringing in a loaded firearm to school" Ron DePaolis, the teenager's father, told the Globe. "[He] brought the spirit up of the student body. The kids need that, a little boost in the morale."

According to Ron

In a preseason preview of Cascade Christian (Wash.) High School's football team, a photo of senior stars was highlighted by running back Tyler Walrath, No. 37 in the photo below, leaping through the air. Given the angle of the camera, Walrath almost appeared to be flying through the air like Superman. While Walrath can't fly, one could be excused for feeling he might still be a man of steel after the senior star ran for 168 yards and two touchdowns with a broken leg on Friday.

That's right, Walrath broke the century mark and accounted for two touchdowns on a broken tibia, helping the undefeated Cougars crush rival Orting (Wash.) 55-6, officially claiming the Nisqually League title in the process. Perhaps more amazingly, Walrath said his leg felt fine after the game, according to the Tacoma News Tribune.

"It's 100 percent -- not even a bruise," he told the News Tribune. "I feel amazing."

It's not like Walrath broke his leg during the game and kept playing on it, either. The senior knew

Of all the excuses for coming up just short of a personal goal, Hortonville (Wisc.) cross country runner Sarah Glidden surely has the best: She ran into a deer during her state-qualifying meet.

"I could see something out of the corner of my eye and I thought it might have been a dog that somebody had on a leash," Glidden told the Appleton (Wisc.) Post Crescent. "Its hooves kind of kicked me in the shin. I felt it pretty good when it hit me, but it didn't hurt real bad. I could feel its fur on my legs. It startled me more than anything."

Glidden was outside the lead pack but would have had an outside shot at qualifying for the state meet during her run at the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association West Division 1 cross country sectional when the deer sprinted across the course with just more than 100 meters to go. Glidden needed to finish in the top-five spots to qualify for the state meet from a team that didn't finish in the meet's top two, and her brush with the deer caused

A fascinating season at Miami Northwestern (Fla.) High School became even more intriguing over the weekend when the Bulls fired head football coach Billy Rolle. The news of Rolle's firing, which came in the aftermath of a victory over Edison (Fla.) High, was first reported by the Miami Herald's Andre Fernandez.

Rolle, who hails from the same luminary extended football family that includes by Antrel, Myron and Samari Rolle, led the Bulls to the state and national title in his first year of a second stint at Miami Northwestern in 2007. In a 14-year career, Rolle has won three state titles at two different schools, making him the only coach in South Florida to win state titles with more than one program.

"It was a principal's decision,'' Northwestern Athletic Director Earl Allick told the Herald. "That's all I can say for now.''

Despite his earlier success, Rolle's fourth season at the helm has seen Northwestern -- which is currently ranked No. 67 in the RivalsHigh 100 -- withstand its