Josh and Gordon are two teenagers living in a small town in western Oregon. Their fathers get sent to fight in Iraq, so the boys must figure out how to grow up by themselves. After being bullied by one of the football players, Seth Johnson, the two boys begin boxing in their backyard to toughen each other up. They worry about the safety of their fathers and anxiously await news. One day, when they're going to the mall, they see the Dave Lightener, the area's recruiting officer. Josh and Gordon make fun of him, upset that he gets to stay behind while their fathers are away fighting the war. While out on a hunting trip in the fall, the teens spot a hunter in the distance; it's Seth Johnson. Later than evening, they skin a deer that Josh shot and dress Gordon up in the hide, then scare Seth and his friends in the middle of the night, stealing their guns and puncturing the holes in the tires. In the winter, the two boys visit Hole in the Ground, a massive crater that had been left by an ancient meteor. Gordon lights a snowball on fire and sends it down the slope, creating an icy surface to sled down. Just before Christmas, they learn that Dave Lightener visited the Johnson family to inform them of Seth's father's death. In response, Seth breaks Dave's nose. Josh and Gordon begin frequenting bars as they grow older. All the boxing they do distorts their faces and they grow beards to look like their fathers, so no one checks their IDs. They tell the older women that they are soldiers back from deployment, giving them their fathers' names. One afternoon, as they head back home to get money from Josh's grandfather, they see Dave in their front yard. Before he can tell them the bad news, the two boys attack him, beating him to the ground and tying him up with duct tape. With their dirt bikes, they drag him all the way to Hole in the Ground and dangle him over the edge, threatening to let him fall. After some time, they decide to leave him on the rim of the crater and head back home. Shortly after, they head to the military registration office to sign up and make their fathers proud.