Business & Economy    Posted: Dec. 9, 2009, 12:00 a.m. ET

Patchwork Nation: Sioux Center Rallies Around High School Football

On Fridays in Sioux Center, Iowa, the high school football game is the place to be, and the competition is about more than just moving the ball down the field.

BY ANNA SHOUP AND MALCOM BROWN

When the Sioux Center Warriors take the gridiron on Friday nights, there is no place else most people in town would rather be.

Even students and families not directly involved with the local high school football team decide to show up. The games are about more than just moving the ball down the field, explains Gary McEldowney, principal of Sioux Center High School.

"High school sports," he says, "is kind of one of the things that kind of rallies the community together."