PILOT ROCK – As if like moths drawn in by the stadium lights, fans young an old turned out to watch the Pilot Rock Rockets practice Thursday night as the team gave them their first peek at the squad this season.

“All week long, the school and the community, they follow each other,” coach Troy Jerome said. “Since I’ve been out here and we’ve had some success, the fan base is always more than where we go. It’s amazing. I can’t say enough about the parents and the community. The kids feel it, we feel it.”

Watching the game from the seat of his ATV in his back yard overlooking the field, Lynn Jones – who’s lived in the town since 1963, said he’s glad to see the team back in action, but wasn’t exactly sure what to expect from them this year.

Down in the front row of the bleachers, Pilot Rock senior Celeste Skinner and freshman Amy Perrine had a little bit higher expectations for the team.

“The boys have been saying they’re going to beat Heppner, so we’re hoping,” Skinner said.

“Obviously it’s great to have rivals,” Jerome said. “Heppner is a great rival and we’re finally starting to play them on a pretty good basis. We’re competitive with them.”

But as Jerome told his players in the huddle after practice, the Rockets aren’t worried about individual games on the schedule and are more focused on the overall goal of returning to the playoffs at season’s end.

“It’s real easy as coaches and players to say our goal is to win the state championship,” Jerome said. “Bottom line is there’s a lot of stuff that’s got to happen … we’re looking to be in November and we don’t care if we’re number one or number three. Our goal is to get into the playoffs.”

The first team up on the schedule is the Salem Academy Crusaders, who they play at 2 p.m. Sept. 8 in Wahtonka.

As lightning lit up the night sky and the last few drops from a short evening shower fell to the turf, Jerome reminded his team that the minute practice ended, they were officially entering “game week”.

Though everybody in the town is excited to see if their Rockets can return to the state playoffs, fans also have another reason to be excited that football is back.

“It always gives us something to do, look forward to Friday nights,” Perrine said.

Skinner agreed that football is the beginning and end of social activities in a small town, not that there’s anything wrong with that.