Friday night football has been the small town staple in Pikeville, with a population of about 700, since the 1960s. Whether its with their halftime hotdogs, ice cream truck, the little league team throwing the pigskin behind the bleachers, or the spirit of the Golden Falcon will always bring an unrelenting spirit to the town despite winning or losing.

Preparing to kick off C.B. Aycock's first home football game at Hardy Talton Stadium September 3, John Powers, 11th grade, turns to talk to his fellow color guard and classmate, Jamme Hines.

The defensive line of Greene Central High School holds back Craig Murdock, 5, of the Golden Falcons. At halftime, the Golden falcons were down 21-0.

After an intense play on the gridiron, Elijah Murray, 25, watches his team on the field. A fan on the sidelines said he was "very disappointed" in how the Golden Falcons were playing that night.

Since the 1970s, Luke Vail has announced most football games at C.B. Aycock. Chuck Covar runs the scoreboard as Josh Overton reacts to a play by the Golden Falcons. The game, which was uneventful, kept the fans fairly subdued throughout the night, unless the cheerleaders were throwing out plastic footballs.

Marching band members Casey Scarboro, Bailey Daniels, Alex Vanmeir, Christy Spears, Jessica Hensley talk about their halftime performance of Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire," who their new crush is, and about their friends while sitting on the back end of the band booster club's ice cream truck. The ice cream truck makes homemade ice cream and the funds go to help the band compete.

Captain Jarrod James, 12th grade, listens to head coach, Randy Pinkowski, after the Golden falcons loss of his team's first home game. "We will keep working until we get our swagger back," Pinkowski said to his team. "Now go find yourself a honey and go home."

Josh Overton of Fellowship of Christian Athletes leads a team prayer after the game in hopes of keeping their faith in their game and their religion.

Another assignment from my photojournalism class was called "Bridging The Gap," where I did a story on someone that I would probably not every approach. Not only did I learn a lot about Maha Mantra, I learned a lot about the Hare Krishna. It was an enlightening experience to get out of my bubble I live in.

So visible to the public, but an unknown to many, the Hare Krishna are peaceful devotees of Krishna Conciousness, a philosophy of living a pure life with no intoxication, meat eating, gambling, or illicit sex. It is a Hindu Vaishnava organization based on traditional Hindu scriptures to spread the word of Krishna, or God.

Maha Mantra, a student monk from Bolivia, plays the drums as other Hare Krishnas chant and sing September 9 at UNC-Chapel Hill. Every Thursday evening, Krishnas gather their pots and their faith to feed students at UNC. They believe in giving away free food so people do not go hungry. The food is always vegetarian because they do not believe in violence against humans or animals as part of living a pure life.

Maha Mantra meditates before the weekly Sunday program. During his meditation in the temple, a few visitors came to admire the dieties. "It's so serene, isn't it?"

Meditation is a daily practice for Maha Mantra as he works his way to being a temple priest.

Maha Mantra serves up apple juice and jokes with Hare Krishnas who attended the worship. "Food is a way of connecting and concentrating to be connected with krishna all of the time," said Maha Mantra.

After Sunday's worship program, there is a free vegetarian dinner to members and guests who attended. Usually, about 100 to 150 members attend the Sunday program.

Everyday at 4:30 a.m., devoted Hare Krishnas meet at the temple to worship the deities and meditate. During the worship session, members chant, sing, make flower garlands for the deities and listen to scripture teachings.

For an hour period from 5:00-6:00 a.m., Maha Mantra chants the Hare Krishna on his beads. The beads, which are similar to a rosary, represent a single prayer. There are 108 beads and they are kept in a bag from getting dirty.

Always dressed in his orange robes, tube socks, and some color of Croc-like shoe, Maha Mantra cooks the nightly offering for the deities Wednesday evening.

Giving food to the deites is a form of devotion to Krishna. Members who live at the New Goloka temple splits up daily tasks among each other.

Maha Mantra meditates in front of the deities and the founder of the Hare Krishna religion.

Members dress the dieties and the founder in traditional clothing as if to bring them into real life. For example, during the meditation, the Puja has a bag of beads around his hand just as worshipers have their bags on their hands. The clay on Maha Mantra's and other worshipers forehead is a symbol of what religion they are in and "to be conscious that the body is an instrument of God's service."