Roy Chutney is a high school senior in the fictional Montana town of Blue Springs. Roy does not have an especially close relationship with his mother Evangeline and has not seen his father in years. That does not prevent Roy from feeling emotionally devastated when he learns that his father has killed himself, and Roy's self-esteem takes a beating when he is cut from the high school football team shortly afterward. Roy whiles away his time by swilling beer with his best friend, Tracy Two Dogs, and falling into a romance with Skyla, a barmaid at a local tavern, but Roy's short time on the high school gridiron seems to have impressed Gideon Ferguson, a local character who coaches an unsanctioned high school six-man football team when he is not delivering newspapers or trying to score a gig singing country songs at nearby honky-tonks. Gideon thinks that Roy has potential and asks him to join his team; encouraged by Gideon's belief in him, Roy agrees, and he persuades Tracy and his friend Russ to tag along. While playing hardscrabble six-man football helps restore Roy's self-confidence, he finds it does not answer his questions about his future or his relationship with Skyla. When Gideon's overwhelming interest in Roy begins to lend credence to town rumors that Gideon is gay, Roy starts to wonder just why he was asked to join the team.