Sussex Tech Football in Sparta Has No Lights, So Its Friday Night Games Happen on Saturday Afternoon

The Sussex Tech Mustangs in Sparta have no field lights, so their Friday night football happens Saturday afternoon. Now they're the last New Jersey school in a national field-makeover vote, open through Sunday, Oct. 25.

A cartoon mustang in a chef's hat parachutes over a dark football field, its lantern beaming light as a sleepy cow squints up.
Friday night lights, delivered one lantern at a time. Illustration: State of Laughs

Can I ask you something? How do you play Friday night football without a Friday night?

Because Sussex Tech, up in Sparta, has figured it out. Its field has no lights. None. So, per NJ 101.5 and WRNJ, Mustangs home games happen on Saturday afternoons.

Friday night football. On a Saturday. In daylight. It's a night game you can wear sunscreen to. Somebody in the bleachers probably still brings a flashlight out of habit and, by the fourth quarter, points it at the sun to help.