Two friends, a football star and the water boy, live in an Oklahoma town obsessed with both football and fundamentalist religion. The town's young people may be deified or destroyed by either of these passions. Sonny and Danny meet at the funeral of a boy their age, then grow to adulthood dealing with the expectations of a town hoping to win a state football championship, while, at the same time, expecting Jesus to return "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye." Which is more important? The championship trophy, or "treasure in heaven?" Local characters inhabit Cimmaron; Cannonball Conner, the assistant football coach who's a dwarf; Emma, Sonny's Mother, who lives for the rapture; Arved, Danny's father, a brilliant farmer who's blind and hated for his success; Brice Miller, a former football hero who hangs around town trying to live off past glory; Dovie Lasher, a girl so talented on the basketball court and so beautiful to look at, she's above all morality. The interaction between the values of football and Christianity lead to a surprising, life-changing conclusion for Sonny and Danny.