Last Chance U (2016–…): Season 1, Episode 4 - Homecoming - full transcript

[indistinct chatter]

Just keep on smiling at me.

[chatter continues]

I was here when your daddy was.
He was a good guy.

[Chris Holbrook] We love to get
back together and see each other.

Football team, 1962-63.

[interviewer] You played under Bull?

Under Coach Sullivan, yes.

-I wouldn't say "Bull," but I can say...
-[all laughing]

Even if he's gone,
I wouldn't say "Bull."

I respect him that much, I'll tell you.



[George Cummings] And he was
a heck of a coach, you know.

And he was, uh, tough.

Tough guy... but, uh, he got results.

[chuckles] You know.

[stadium announcer speaking indistinctly]

[alumnus 1] People that didn't know
Coach Sullivan thought he was crazy.

[alumnus 2] He treated us
like military recruits, and it was...

it was tough.

[alumnus 3] He'd been at war,

and he knew what it would take
to get us in shape

and to be better
than what we really were.

[Vic Sullivan] I think it was like
him preparing them for battle.

He had to gain their respect.

I've recently been diagnosed
with Parkinson's.



And I said, "You know,
if I can live through two years...

at Scooba with Coach Sullivan,

that this Parkinson's would be
a walk in the park."

I've got my helmet
and I went to the manager and said,

"Where do I get my facemask?"
And he starts laughing.

[Vic] I can't imagine getting down,
looking across at somebody,

you know, and you're looking
at their cross-bone skull

and no facemask.

You know they're tough.
[laughs]

We bought into that...

Let me say, I say we bought into it.
We didn't have a choice.

[laughs]

One of our defensive backs got hit
right in the face, slugged.

Coach Sullivan said,
"Did you see that SOB? Let's get him!"

Bench emptied, you know, just a big brawl.

[J.K. Briggs Jr.]
If you wanna fight, he'd let you fight.

Then he'd turn the energy
around on that football field

and get more out of you
than you knew you could do yourself.

[Rick Cleveland]
There was a plane flying over practice,

and all of a sudden,
Bull got the gun

and started shooting up
at the plane and yelling,

"Decatur spies! Decatur spies!
They're spying on our practice!"

You know, he said,
"Shoot first and then ask questions."

[laughs]

[Charlie Studdard] There's a statue of him
on the north end of the football field.

It looks so much like him, it's scary.

[stammers] I'm afraid he's gonna
throw his clipboard,

or do something when we walk by there.

-[indistinct chatter]
-[whistle blows]

[Buddy] God damn it! Hey!
You gotta get back, Taylor!

You gotta get back!

[coach] All right. Ready!

Get back! Get him!
Push Ollie down!

[blows whistle] Damn it, Rose.
Don't block a man!

Hey! Everybody get on the side.
[blows whistle]

Everybody get on the side.
Hurry up!

-[man] Let's go! Let's go!
-Hurry up!

[Buddy] Over and back, everybody!
[blows whistle] Go!

[Wood] Come on, come on, come on!

Let's go! Let's go!

[Buddy] Pick it up!

Or I swear by...

I swear by the lives
of my three daughters,

I will run the shit out of you.

You think I'm bullshittin'?
I ain't bullshittin'!

-[whistle blows]
-You're gonna make this hard on you.

I ain't gonna make it hard on you.
You gonna make it hard on you.

Pick it up!

Ollie, you gotta get in shape.

[Wagner] Obviously, the kid wants to play.
I don't blame him.

They took him to the second doctor
this morning in Tuscaloosa.

Hopefully, he'll be fine and...

you know, everyone will be over it,

and we'll just move on.

But you gotta figure 'em all out.

Sometimes we do a great job at that,
sometimes we suck.

[chuckles] Myself included.

[Buddy] Football may not be for you, baby.

It's okay.
[yells] It's okay!

-[player yells]
-Hey!

If football ain't for you, it's okay!

[player] Boys, quit being lazy.
Let's go!

[Buddy] Don't play!

If football does not mean
that much to you, don't play.

-Please!
-Oh, my fucking God.

[Buddy] It's okay!

Your mom will understand!

I promise.

You can stay at the house.

[Ollie] That's that dumb shit.
[player] I was running last night.

Man, we ran about 20 last night.

[mutters]

[Ollie] It's been rough.

Been a rough week.

It is what it is, I guess.

I'm here now.
I finna' graduate in December.

I can't just... [mumbling]
I can't quit now.

I gotta play next week, though.

I ain't gonna plan on missing next week...
at all.

Can't miss next week.

[Buddy yelling] You think I'm joking?

That's the reason you get your ass beat!

Because you don't worry about
the little things!

-Ready!
-[whistle blows]

[players panting]

[yelling]

[Matt Pellegrin]
We're the Digital Media department.

I'm the director of Digital Media.

Matt is the assistant director
of Digital Media.

We produce, um,
commercials for the school.

We produce hype videos for the team.

To win a National Championship,

you have to be ranked number one
or number two in the nation.

Co-Lin is still ranked, uh, number one,
after defeating us,

but until you get that second loss,

-there's always hope.
-[Milner] Yeah.

Losing twice, you're not gonna play
for that National Championship.

Well, I mean, we have to build up
our resume again, essentially.

And beating people by double digits,
the way we do,

there's no way that they could
keep us out of the top two.

[Buddy] You can look at the scoreboard,
and you can see a direct correlation

to the teams playing
for National Championship.

I mean, it's not my fault that the...
that if we have a close game...

It was a... it was a few years back,
we had a close game,

we dropped four places in the, uh...
in the national rankings.

"Hold on a second.
Does that mean I have to win by more?

If... if so, I'll do that."

And we're just a very hated bunch
around the state,

and I can live with that.

'Cause if we're hated,
it means we're doing something right.

[indistinct chatter]

-[laughing]
-Yes, we're gonna vote.

[Hannah] My name is
Hannah Lynn Daugherty.

I'm running for Queen.

-Homecoming Queen.
-Yeah, Homecoming Queen.

-This is one of my BFFs.
-[laughs]

She, um... she's gonna support me.
All the way.

-Vote Hannah Homecoming Queen!
-Whoo!

-Let's go, Lions.
-[laughs]

[Hannah] Hey, guys!
[Wyatt] What's up?

-Nice game, by the way.
-[Wyatt] Appreciate it.

Thank you. That made me feel
a lot better about myself.

Um, my name is Hannah Lynn Daugherty,
I'm running for Homecoming Queen.

And I was just wondering
if y'all would vote for me.

-Yeah.
-[Hannah] Yay.

[student] Sure.

-Appreciate it.
-Thanks, guys.

-No problem.
-Thank you.

[Hannah] Thank y'all.

-[camera clicks]
-[indistinct chatter]

[Hannah] Our reputation was,

"We are number one.
Nobody beats us."

And I think that's what got us this year.

You gotta come in there...
the heart and desire to win.

Not because, "Hey, we're East Mississippi,
we're gonna win."

But the next week, they did.

They came back, they said,
"Hannah, we're gonna win it."

And I was like, "You gonna win?

Are you just sayin' that,
or are you actually want to win?"

They wanted...
They wanted to win and it showed.

And it was a whole different perspective
with them.

I came out there, you know,
I was kinda scared, we lost.

I didn't wanna show them
I was kind of scared.

When we started playing,
I started seeing the drive a little bit.

I was like,
"This is the team I wanted to see.

This is the team I miss."

[Marcel] Getting close to Homecoming,
I guess, huh?

Yep, yep, yep.

-And I really don't vote.
-[scoffs] Me neither.

[Ryan] I'm gonna vote for Hannah, though.
[Wagner] Mmm...

Why are you gonna vote for Hannah?

[Marcel] I'm definitely voting for Hannah.

-'Cause she is fine.
-[Wagner laughs]

-[Marcel] She is one hottie.
-Fine. Mmm.

-[Wagner] She is a very pretty girl.
-She, uh...

And she will get my vote,
'cause she earned it.

-[Wagner] She will not... She earned it?
-Yeah.

-'Cause she's pretty?
-Mmm-hmm.

[Wagner] What if she was mean?
What if she was pretty and mean?

Still would've got it.

-It's all about looks, basically.
-[Wagner] Yeah.

So, if I don't vote for them,
that'd mean they're poo, like, garbage.

-[Wagner chuckles] Whoa.
-Like, ugly.

-[Wagner] No...
-Yeah.

[Wagner] No, it just...
No, it just means that you...

-Chose the prettier girl.
-[Wagner] But Homecoming court...

it should be people that represent
the school well.

So you don't have to be pretty
to represent the school well.

[Ryan] If you looked like--

[Marcel] Why I can't run?

'Cause you look like Joy Behar.

[all laughing]

-That's why he can't run.
-[Marcel] That ain't right.

[Wagner] How do you even know
who Joy Behar is?

-I watched Hangover.
-[Wagner] You used to watch The View?

-I just watched Hangover, he was like...
-[Wagner laughing]

"Is that a male satch?"

And he was like,
"Boy, you look like Joy Behar."

-[Marcel laughs]
-'Cause he's gay, I'm guessing.

[Marcel] He gay? [indistinct muttering]

[Wagner] What are you talking about?
Nobody on The Hangover was gay.

I'm talking about Joy Behar.

[Wagner] Joy Behar is a woman.

-[Wagner laughing]
-[Marcel] Really?

[chuckles] I swear,
I didn't know that, bro.

[Marcel] Really?
[Wagner] Let me show you.

-It sounded like a man name!
-[Wagner laughing]

-[Marcel muttering]
-Joy?

-[Ryan] Joy Behar.
-Not "Joey." Joy.

This is Joy Behar. That is not...

I'm pretty sure that does not look like...

[both laughing]

[Marcel] She's hot.

[coach] There it is.

[indistinct chatter]

[Buddy] You got an opportunity

to go out and play
in front of your families this weekend.

Prepare yourself.

Prepare yourself to play against the team
that wants to whip your ass, okay?

Prepare yourself mentally
and physically to go beat their ass.

Talked to Dr. Huebner yesterday.

Co-Lin played an ineligible player
the first two ball games,

so you've got a new damn lease
on a lot of shit, okay?

Defense, get your ass on that sideline.

Offense, get your ass over there.
Go. Move. Now.

-[indistinct chatter]
-[whistle blows]

[Buddy] Let's go. On the hop.
On the hop. Let's go.

Hurry up!

One of my guys just told me that
Co-Lin had to forfeit all of their games.

They played two ineligible players,
so we're undefeated again.

-[Wagner] Shut up.
-You didn't hear about that?

[player] Oh, yeah.
[Salter] Y'all overheard? Is that true?

So what's that mean?

Some dude didn't have a high school
diploma through the State of Mississippi,

so they're supposed to either forfeit
their first two games

and give us our streak back
and put us back at number one,

or forfeit the rest of their season.

-If we play 'em again...
-[Wagner] It's not on the NJCAA website.

[Salter] If they have
to forfeit three games,

you won't ever see 'em again.

[Wagner] Yeah, they wouldn't make
the playoffs if they forfeit three games.

[James] Oh, it'd be over with.
[Wagner] Wow.

That's huge.

The deal with Co-Lin, we'll worry
about that when that comes through.

We're going to get that one back.

That's what's probably fixin' to happen.

And I had someone ask me the other day,

"If that happens,
will that be tainted to you?"

I said, "Not at all, man.

If you cheat and you get caught,
you get busted, that's part of the deal."

Okay?
So I'm not worried about any of that.

What I'm interested in is, are you gonna
do the things you're supposed to do?

Are you gonna work
the way you're supposed to work?

Are you gonna do the things
that you're capable of doing?

You are. No doubt about it.
All right, baby.

[John] Gus Malzahn, he told me to come
next week, so I'm gonna go...

[stammers] Go to that Iron Bowl game.

-Alabama-Auburn.
-[Gary] Oh, yeah, yeah.

[John] I hope it's at Auburn, too.

Auburn's right down the street.

Yeah, my sister and my godmama,
they're gonna come to the Homecoming game.

All my family coming up
for the Homecoming game.

Finna' to make that drive.
All of them.

Grandma, sisters, godmama, auntie,
all of 'em.

[Buddy] Here's the deal, okay?

If you're not making plays,
we're gonna put somebody in there

that's gonna make some plays, okay?

So we're gonna put people in there
that's gonna make an impact in the game,

and some of you guys
that are not making impacts in the game,

gonna find yourself over there with us.

We're gonna find people that are
gonna make impacts and go plays.

'Cause I think Coach Wood said it best,

"It's having dog in you.
It's having some dog in you."

Some, "Go get after it."

[Trickett] Where we're at now,
with Wyatt being the starter,

I don't think it's necessarily over

as far as the competition,
but, you know, we are in week five now.

You know, we kinda wanna get a guy.

John, he's just gotta be more consistent,

'cause sometimes he'll be erratic
with his throws.

He's not extremely accurate,
um, like Wyatt is.

John can go deep over the top,

but that's not really
what we do offensively.

We just nickel-and-dime it down the field,
which is exactly what Wyatt does.

-[player grunts]
-[John] Oh, shit. Oh!

[whistle blowing]

[John sighs] Uh, definitely frustrating.
Definitely.

You do what's best for the team,

but at the same time, you know,
it's very frustrating.

You just try to not show it,
but sometimes it's hard not to show it.

A lot of people thought
I should have stayed at Florida State.

[sighs] Uh, some of my family, you know,
we got into it a couple of times.

Thought I should've just stayed
and waited it out, but...

I mean, at the end of the day,
it was my decision.

So, you know, if everything doesn't work
out for me, I can live with that.

You know what I'm saying?
It's my decision, my life, my career.

[James] These wack-ass
Kemper County boys, man.

I'm so ready to get the hell out of here.

You tell 'em.
It can't be December fast enough.

Man, I'm gone
and I ain't coming back either.

People gonna be like,
"John, where you been for six months?"

"I don't know.
I fell off the Earth."

I disappeared for a little bit,
but now I'm back.

I was working with the Feds.
They had me in Witness Protection.

-I was locked up.
-[laughing]

-They wouldn't let me out.
-[both laughing]

We really is locked up though.

[teacher] So to find the X intercept,

set zero...

for your Y.

Once you definitely learn
how to find the YX intercept...

I think the Y... Finding the YX intercept
is also easy for the computer too,

'cause you know you only need two points.

[Wagner] DJ has three absences in College
Study Skills and four absences in Math,

that's gonna make him ineligible
if he gets dropped from both of those.

I mean, we're not even
to the midterm point,

and he's already got four absences.

I mean,
he gets dropped in two more...

All right.
She got a couple minutes.

[Wagner] The chances of that happening
before the National Championship are...

I mean, that's almost 100% gonna happen.

If he gets dropped from both of them,

he's gonna totally screw
his graduation up, though, so...

he'll have bigger problems
than playing in a game.

[DJ] I told you she got a couple minutes.

'Cause I will dip on her ass.

[chuckles]

See, if the camera wasn't here
I would've been dipped on y'all.

[laughing]

I'll try to be a good influence,
you feel me?

But, boy... [laughing]

[interviewer] You do whatever you want,
DJ, we don't care.

I'm gone.

Let's go.

Hey, it's 11:05 and she ain't here.

[student] I bet.

[DJ laughing] All right.

After I dip, the whole class dips.
See, that's why I try to wait.

[laughing] That's why I try to wait.
Trying to be a good influence.

Everybody is out.

[Buddy] All stories
aren't success stories.

It's just hard sometimes,
because you see great kids

that just won't... commit.

Now, they'll commit to being at practice,
they won't be late for a meeting,

but when it comes to class? Please.

So, we'll do the best we can when it...

You know, for... for stuff like that.

And I say we'll do the best we can.
Are we really doing the best we can?

Are we really doing the best we can?

Or are we just saying that
because if we were doing the best we can,

wouldn't we punish them
if they didn't go to class,

not letting them practice?

And therefore maybe not letting them play?

I mean, every...

every coach, every team in America has
the same thing they have to go through.

Where's my line?

When have I put winning
or being successful on the field

ahead of truly putting the success
of the student athlete there, you know?

We all do that.

[Wyatt] What's up?
[Wagner] What's up?

Nothing. Bored.

-[Wagner] Bored?
-Yep.

My class got canceled.

Well, hell, you ain't been in a week.

I know. Then, I get back,
and they cancel it.

I'm so behind.

I know, you literally haven't
been to class in a week.

But I can't help it.
Hey, can I drop a class?

No. Heck, no.
Have you lost your ever-loving mind?

Y'all have to have
every single thing you're in.

I said that, at the team meeting,
at the beginning of the year.

I thought I was ahead of the schedule,
'cause I took the class--

That's the thing I'm talking about.

I stand up in front of y'all and talk,

and every one of y'all think,
"She ain't talking to me."

I'm talking to you.
All of you.

-[Wyatt] Guess I wasn't listening.
-Thanks.

You wanna graduate?

Oh, I'm graduating, with or without
a diploma, don't worry about that.

I ain't staying here another day
past December.

I got the countdown thing on my phone.

-What countdown thing?
-An app.

-[Wagner] Shut up.
-Okay.

You have an app on your phone that
counts down your days left in Scooba?

-Yeah, you wanna see it?
-[player] Oh, yeah.

Fifty-seven days, two hours,
46 minutes and 20 seconds.

-That makes me sad!
-It makes me happy.

Y'all! That's not very nice.

[stutters] "Ain't very nice"?

Uh-uh.

-You think I... You think I just--
-[player] How many days you got left?

See? He got it too.
Look, look.

[both chuckling]

I got 57, you got 58. Damn.

I count that extra day.

I got mine to right after
the National Championship.

Oh.

[Wagner] You have to go to class
after the National Championship.

Yeah, but I'm not...
I'm not living here anymore.

I'm commuting.

[Wagner] You know what
the sad thing is about?

I don't have anything
to even count down to.

I don't have anything exciting
to look forward to.

[player] The next yogurt?

[Wagner] Four, three, two...

-[music playing over stereo]
-Hold it up and crunch. Here we go, fast.

Eight, hang with me.
Seven, six, come on!

-Five, four, three, two, one...
-[music playing on stereo]

Go! One, back.

Two...

Three...

Four, come on!

-Five!
-[student] Whoo!

[Wagner] Come on, Brittany Bell.

-Six...
-[indistinct chatter]

[Wagner] Seven...

[Brittany] Queen, it's just...
It's a title.

It would be awesome to get Queen,

to have that title.

But whoever gets it,
that's awesome,

to be known as...

EMCC's Homecoming Queen.

[Brittany] I'm running
for Homecoming Queen.

My name's Brittany Bell.
I'm sure y'all knew that.

-[DJ] Candy?
-Yes, get some candies and cookies.

-Go ahead.
-Mmm...

[Brittany] Hey, Isaiah.
Hug me.

[indistinct chatter]

-You know what the business is.
-[Isaiah] You know what we need.

[Brittany] Hi, how are you?
[student 1] Good.

I'm running for Queen. I'm Brittany Bell.
You want some candy?

Sure.

[Brittany] Your dress is pretty.
[student 1] Thank you.

-Hey, y'all.
-[student 2] Hey.

I'm running for Queen.

My name's Brittany Bell.
You want some candy?

Yeah, sure.

-[Brittany] You've really pretty eyes.
-Thank you.

-Y'all have a great day.
-You, too.

[Hannah] Hi, guys!
[student 3] Hey.

[Hannah] Remember to vote
for Homecoming Queen today.

[student 4] You so pretty.
[Hannah] Thank you!

I mean, everybody's nervous.

Everybody wants that big shot
at being Homecoming Queen.

But you have to be thankful
of what you get.

You can't just...
want, want, want, want, want.

You gotta take what you have
in front of you and just go with it.

Because God has a plan for you,

regardless if you're
Homecoming Queen or not.

It's not gonna make you or break you.

[Buddy] Come on!
Come get it!

[whistle blows]

[Buddy] There you go. There you go.
Whip his ass!

-[indistinct taunting]
-[players cheering]

-[player] What the hell?
-[whistle blows]

[Isaiah] What would you think
your life would be

if you'd have came out black?

Same thing except black, I guess.

[Isaiah] How?

I don't know how to answer that question.
I've never been black before.

[players chuckling]

-You've never been black?
-Uh-uh.

-Never?
-No, not like that.

But I haven't, no.

[player chuckles]

It'll change your life,
I'm telling you.

[chuckling]

-It'll change it.
-[Buddy] Let's go. Get up!

[Wagner] Hey, Ollie.

What ya doing?

[Ollie clicks tongue] Chilling.

[Wagner] How was your test?

[Ollie] It was a'ight.

[Wagner] You didn't come in here to get
a refresher before you went in there.

Because I was a'ight.

-How was the doctor yesterday?
-[chuckles] Great.

-What did he say?
-I can play.

[gasps] You can?

-This week?
-Yes. Yes.

-[gasps]
-Yes.

-Yay!
-Yay.

-Are you excited?
-Yes.

[Williams] Get down, get down.

[players breathing heavily]

-[Buddy shouts]
-[players grunting]

[whistle blowing]

[Williams] Hey,
you never flipped your hips!

Hey, come here.
Come here.

You trying to come
to the inside of the guy...

You can't turn the corner,
right here, with your hips square.

You gotta flip your hips
and turn your hips to the quarterback.

[Ollie] All right.

[Williams] Ollie will go as far
as Ollie let himself go.

And, you know, he's fighting to get
a scholarship to any SEC school.

That's where he wants to be,

so I keep hammering with that
every week, every day.

"You wanna play in the SEC?
Okay, well, you can't do that."

[Buddy] Hit! That's good.
Good. Good.

[Williams] Come on, lift it!
Lift it! Lift it!

[Lesley] It's been a tough
couple games without him.

He's just a spark that we need,

and when you lose
a player like that, it hurts.

But now we've got him back, and...

you know, you need that.

[Lesley] This is a big one.
This is a big one.

I'm sure we'll have some kinda new,

pretty, latest greatest shit
for Homecoming and all that.

And you'll have a lot of people...
that the reason you got all that shit...

Look, everybody get your eyes up,
listen to me.

The reason you got all that shit,
those people...

will be sitting on that sideline,
watching you play Saturday.

And I don't know, man.

[stammers] Right now, to some of us,
that may not mean a whole lot to you.

When you look at all the shit you got,
and how people take care of you,

you better have learned
to have a sense of pride about that.

An appreciation of people that
give a shit about this football program

and support you to no end.

Just so they can sit in the stands
and watch... their team.

[Richie Wallace growling]

[growling]

[Wallace] Well...

Boy, I heard about the lion...

There was a lion.

So I just thought, growl like a lion.

[laughs]

[growling]

And everybody else, looking up,
just...

wondering where it was coming from.

Everybody was laughing.

And sooner or later,
I heard other people growling...

-[growling]
-...and they were smiling.

Lot of people were smiling.

That's how they started calling me.

-[growls]
-[people laughing]

It meant a lot,
football, like, for Scooba.

Our little community, you know?
Like that.

I like a family like that, you know?

[Luke] People always ask me,

"What's your favorite
college football team?"

I say, "Well...
[chuckles] it's Scooba Tech."

I take a lot of pride in this school.

It's an awesome place, stuck out
in the middle of nowhere. [chuckles]

[Hannah] We stress it over and over
here at Scooba, we are a family.

We all have their backs
and we want them to win.

They're... they're supposed
to carry our spirits, carry our...

carry everything we have in this school,

'cause that's what
we put our money into, football.

And they know it.

[Wallace] They love you at, uh, EMCC.

They tell me that.
For real, from the heart.

And that made my heart feel welcome.

Welcome, welcome.

And that's why I'm gonna keep doing
what I'm doing.

[Wallace growls]

[indistinct chatter]

[stadium announcer] And now, the moment
we have all have been anticipating,

the announcement of this year's
Homecoming Queen.

Ladies and gentlemen,

East Mississippi Community College's
2015 Homecoming Queen...

-is Miss Hannah Lynn Daugherty.
-[crowd cheering]

[fanfare playing]

[Buddy] Show no weakness.
Don't show a damn bit, you understand?

Don't show a damn bit of weakness.

You go out there and you pound their ass

from the time we kick that ball off,
till the time we shake their hand.

But between the kick off and that time,
you give them 60 minutes of hell.

You understand?
60 minutes of hell.

There's gonna be former players here.
Okay?

Guys that built this thing.

You go through and you shake
every single person's hand.

You take your helmet off
and you shake their hand,

you look them in the eye
and you tell them, "Thank you,"

you understand?

Because you're gonna be one of those guys.

You're gonna be one of those guys
that built the foundation.

That carried it on.

[crowd cheering]

[announcer 1] So the officials
are about to let us know

everything's ready for play,

they've got 15 minutes
up on the scoreboard.

And it's loud
inside Sullivan-Windham Field...

-[growls]
-...getting set for kick-off

at the 2015 Homecoming Game versus ICC.

A high, end-over-end kick
taken at the three-yard line by Law.

Out across the ten, out across the 20,
near side, he slips a tackle for 30.

Out across 35,
stays down the near sidelines.

Gonna step out of bounds around the 45.

So, that's gonna be
a great return for DJ Law.

[Buddy] Good job!

[announcer 2] Let's see if Wyatt Roberts
can get in a groove early.

[announcer 1] There's the snap,
leaves it with Law,

goes up the middle,
has a big hole,

inside the 25,
inside the 20, down to the 15,

and he's going to go down
somewhere around the 13-yard line.

[announcer 3]
DJ Law runs it up the middle.

[announcer 1] Wyatt Roberts,
who's in the shotgun.

The snap, with pressure.

Tunnel screening
and it's caught by Staggers.

Slips a tackle at the ten.
Another tackle.

He'll walk into the end zone,
touchdown!

Allenzae Staggers.

And EMCC leads it six to nothing
pending the PAT.

[crowd cheering]

[Buddy] That's a hell of a job,
right there!

[player] Great fucking catch, boy!

Listen! Hey! [whooping]

Ooh!

Ooh!

Come on, John, let's do this.
Have a good series here.

[Kealer Franklin] We have always
been to his games.

He gets really hard on himself

because he sets a high expectation
for what he does.

And when it doesn't go that way,

he can sometimes get down on himself.

So I have to be that voice that says,

"Look, boy." [laughs]

"You know, everybody fumbles.
You know, everybody has a bad game."

[Wood] Got John in at...

I've been waiting on him to make a play.
Yeah, it's Homecoming.

Let's suck that up and let's...
[chuckling] move on.

[John] North, north, north.
Ninety-eight, Wild. Let's go.

Be smart, be smart.

[announcer 1]
John Franklin III in the shotgun.

Second down and goal
to go from the four,

backpedaling and now firing
over of the middle...

intercepted in the end zone
by ICC.

[Wood] Oh, you gotta be kidding me!

[groans]

-Shake it off.
-It's all right.

That's football.

-Shake it off.
-There you go.

[John] Fuck!

[announcer 1] We'll head to the second
quarter with EMCC on top by ten.

So that's gonna bring up
a fourth and goal from the two.

And it looks as if, uh,
ICC's gonna go for it.

Bunch formation around the two-yard line.

The snap to Griggs,
he takes it around outside...

and he is going to dive towards
the goal line. I don't think he got in.

He did not get in.

It's EMCC football
down at the half-yard line. Glenn?

[announcer 4] Guys, he was denied.

Outstanding stop by the defense.

Number 90, that is Ronald Ollie,
leading the charge there.

Big defensive stand for East Mississippi.

-[Ollie yelling] I told them!
-[crowd cheering]

Ain't nothin'!

[chanting] Let's go, Lions!

[growling]

[Buddy] Ollie, Ollie!

Ollie!

Ollie!

I don't care if you dance,
but, damn, don't do it up there.

It's like pole dancing,
you might fall down.

[players laughing]

[announcer 1] Here's the hand-off to Law,
who's coming around near side

and he's gonna be undercut
around the 26-yard line

and drop there as he tried
to cut down the numbers.

And Law's gonna come up a little bit gimpy
as he got near the 40-yard line.

Looks like he's favoring that left leg.

[man] Just relax it, man.

-Oh, yeah.
-[DJ] Okay, that's good.

[man] That hurt you?

Back up.
All right, lay down.

[DJ] Fuck!
[man] Look, hey...

You may not be able
to play on that today, okay?

Let's take a couple Toradols
and see how he feels,

but he's got a little grade one MCL.

[DJ] What the hell?
[man] You got a playmaker in there?

All right, let me just feel something.
Let's see how you feel.

And, look, if this thing starts gettin'
real sore and stuff,

I don't want you getting all swollen.
Let me know, all right?

[announcer 1] 9,3 seconds remaining here
in the second quarter of play.

You ain't got much time.

[announcer 1] Here's the snap by Roberts.
Pocket collapses, steps up,

has plenty of time
to throw deep down the field.

He has a man, Wright, who...
caught it!

Touchdown, EMCC!

Oh, my goodness gracious,
from 37 yards out!

[announcer 2] They collide, I don't know
how he holds on to that ball.

[Buddy] Just the way
we drew the motherfucker up.

Oh, my God.

[crowd chanting]

[Buddy] Pulled that out of our ass.

[announcer 1]
Twenty-four to nothing here at the half.

Number six, EMCC, on top.

[indistinct chatter]

-[man 1] Does it hurt?
-[groans]

[man 2] Yeah, the PCL.

[man 1] We'll get an MRI
of this thing Monday.

They need to put this leg thing on.
This shit hurtin'.

I knew something was wrong with it.
When I'm running, it's buckling.

[Buddy] Go out there and put
the hammer on 'em, you understand me?

But let me tell you something,
no personal fouls.

Have more faith in us as a team
than to worry about that bullshit, okay?

All they're gonna
try to do is get your ass...

get your ass thinking
outside of what we doin'.

We got one mission,
that's to whip their ass, you understand?

Now, let's go finish what we started.
Let's go, come on.

[DJ] Coach, I can go, man.

No, I ain't taking a chance.
I ain't taking a chance on you.

I ain't taking a chance on you,
uh, doing that now.

[Wagner] Our thing is...
run the score up.

I understand the national ranking system
is that you gotta score points.

You know, you want to be the meanest,
baddest, toughest team out there.

But I think when you stuff things
down people's throat

for seven years...

at some point, you know,
people are tired of it.

And if they can't beat you on the field,

then they're gonna figure out
another way to do it.

[announcer 1] Oh, goodness gracious!
That was a late hit.

Penalty flags flying everywhere.
Taylor retaliated.

[Wood] Oh, my gosh!
That's Taylor.

I bet he got ejected,
he threw a punch.

[referee over PA]
Personal foul. Number 36.

On the defense. Player's ejected.

[player] What?
[announcer 2] Unbelievable.

They have ejected Javarius Taylor.

[announcer 1] Oh, that's crazy!

All he did was give him a shove

because he got hit
on the head from behind.

Howard could have hurt Taylor there.

Here's pressure,
he's hit as he throws,

and that'll bring up
fourth down and nine,

-but we have a penalty flag.
-[announcer 2] Yeah.

[announcer 1] Is that gonna be
a hit below the, uh, knees?

[over PA] Personal foul.
Low hit on the quarterback.

[announcer 1] Oh, my goodness!

[Buddy] Oh, motherfucker!

[Wood] Low hit on the quarterback?

[Williams] Hell no! Hell no!
You got that wrong, ref.

He wrapped him up around the damn waist.

[stammering] Oh, you're shrugging?

You're shrugging gonna damn cost us
the damn game.

That's bullshit.

I will take those penalties all day, son.

Do you understand me?
If you'll keep playing like that, okay?

So next time we get one,
I'm going to run fucking Rattler,

and you're gonna bust him
right on his goddamn chin, you got me?

[announcer 1] So, now we have
another situation of players going at it.

[Wood] Hey, no, no, no!
[Buddy] Damion, stop!

[Wood] Damion!
[announcer 1] Penalty flags fly.

[announcer 2]
Willis getting into it over there.

[Wood] Damion, why?
[Damion] I tried to...

[coach] Let him take the 15.

We want the...
the personal on them, not on us!

Hey, man, I know what you did,
but be bigger than that.

-You gotta think, bro. They don't--
-You ain't proving nothing.

Pushing them back
don't prove nothin'.

Fifteen is ejected.

[player] Oh, my God!

[Wood] He got hit in the back of the head
on the sidelines! That ain't right!

[announcer 1]
Why are they ejecting the EMCC kids?

You tell us to chill out,
but they doing bullshit!

That's called takin' care
of your damn teammates, man.

Boy, if I knew I wouldn't get ejected,

I would beat your stupid ass
right now, bro.

[player laughing]

I told him, "I would beat your ass
if I knew I wouldn't get ejected, bro."

[indistinct shouting]

[Buddy] Hey. Hey, wait.
Are you in this game?

Let him... let him handle it, damn it.

-Yes, I am. And that's my job.
-Well, let him handle it!

You shut the fuck up
and let him handle it!

-You shut the fuck up!
-Don't tell me nothing.

Do you understand me?

Get off the fucking sideline,
motherfucker.

Get off the goddamn sideline.
Pushing me?

Pushing on my ass, motherfucker?

[indistinct shouting]

[player 1] Hit him back!

-[player 2] Do it, Coach! Do it!
-[whistle blowing]

[announcer 1] Don't know
exactly what happened here,

but we have some people out on the field.

All I know is Buddy is highly,
highly, highly upset.

[Buddy] That motherfucker hit me,
God damn it!

That motherfucker hit me!

[referee] I know it, but I got...

Ooh, it's getting ratchet out here.

[referee] Just relax, okay?
Do that for me, all right?

Do that for me, Buddy.

Okay? Please.

-Come here, Buddy.
-Okay, I'm not going to him.

I'm gonna run up on that man
when the game over with.

That man a ho.

Get back, get back!

[coach] Don't make a scene.
No, don't make a scene!

Tyre, get back, get back!

[Javarius] I'll smack the shit
out of that man.

[coach] Buddy, it's not worth it.
Don't make a scene.

[Buddy] He saw him fucking hit me,
God damn it!

[man] Quit cussin', okay?
Just calm down, okay?

[Buddy] Okay, I'm good.

I'm gonna get my ass on this sideline
over here, all right?

-We're gonna remove him from the field.
-He needs to.

[announcer 2]
You ever seen a referee get ejected?

[announcer 1] I've never seen
a referee ejected before in my life.

This is the strangest thing
that I have ever had happen to me

at an athletic event.

[player] Fuck that.
That nigga deserved that shit.

I'm gonna help Buddy out if he try to...
come after his ass after the game.

I'm gonna try to get me
a lick at his bitch-ass.

I'm ready to go and fight.

I was ready to fight.

This is Scooba, Mississippi.

-Coach go, we gonna go.
-We gonna go.

-We were gonna drop him.
-[players laughing]

[players yelling indistinctly]

[Buddy] What?

I'm not throwing you out.

I'm asking you just because
of the way the score is,

do you mind removing yourself?

Okay.

Hey, hey!

-Finish this shit up, you understand?
-[players] Yes, sir.

You finish this motherfucker up straight,
do you understand?

-You got me?
-[players] Yes, sir.

-You got me? You got my back?
-[players] Yes, sir.

Then, hell, let's go. Let's go.
Let's roll.

-Come on. Let's roll.
-[players] Go!

[Buddy] Let's roll.

[crowd cheering]

[Buddy] I'm leaving.
Yeah, I'm good.

[announcer 1] The EMCC's gonna win
a homecoming game here in Scooba,

and it's just been weird here
in the fourth quarter.

[horn blowing]

[Jay Johnson] See, you don't know,

'cause you're not a football coach
or a player.

If we're getting cheap shotted,
I say cheap shot back.

I mean--

[Wagner] But who's gonna get
thrown out of the game?

We are, because we're the better team.

-I mean--
-Everyone's always for the underdog.

-Yeah, you're right. You're right.
-Even the referees.

So, if you do, if you...

If they cheap shot
and you cheap shot back,

your ass is the one
that's gonna get thrown out,

not the other guy
that's getting his brains beat.

Yeah, but we ain't gonna sit there
and get hurt, either.

[John] Well, we play a violent game.

We do, and I understand
sometimes it gets--

We risk life and death every time
the ball gets snapped.

-Oh, please. You're not at war.
-So, when you have that mindset...

-It's football.
-How are we not?

[Wagner] To me, all the talk
and all the fighting

cheapens the fact
that we're whooping your ass.

Like, just whoop their ass.

And, like, why do you need to...

If you're that good,
why do you even need to run your mouth?

You know, I mean, it's like,

"Buddy, we're up 31-3
in the third quarter,

why do you even need to argue
whatever you're arguing?

Like, just win."

[Wagner] Hey, Ollie.

[Jay] Ollie.
[player] Ollie.

What'd I do?

[Jay] When do you talk shit
to the other team?

Tell them they ain't shit,
they ain't never gonna be shit,

and their kids ain't gonna be shit.

[all laughing]

[Jay] See?

[Buddy] Courtney... Courtney,
you're the only person,

out of everybody
that's seen all the video,

out of all the people
that were at the game,

you're the only person to say
that I swung at the guy.

But Courtney sensationalized it.

Courtney sensationalized it,
and I understand.

[stutters] It's...

Why don't you call Jim and ask him
about Co-Lin having to forfeit

their first two ball games?

Why don't you sensationalize
the shit out of that?

Okay? Oh, no, no.
Hey...

Look, go find out.

All right? I mean, if you wanna do
some investigative reporting,

go figure that one out.

And go figure out how... go figure out how
justice is rendered in this league.

-All right, listen.
-[blows whistle]

Listen.

Taylor, you and Willis,
you got a one-game suspension.

[Javarius] Sorry.
[Buddy] Okay?

Somebody should have got in between
y'all before it happened.

Needless to say,
we all have our penance to pay.

They've suspended me two games.

[stammers] Okay?
Hey, we're not worried about it.

-'Cause nobody stops this train, right?
-[players agreeing]

That's what we've been saying all along,
people are trying to derail us...

People are gonna hate you.

People are gonna hate for no reason.
You know what I'm talking about.

People are gonna hate for no reason
just 'cause you are who you are.

And that's not only here,
but it's in society.

Period.
All right?

And I gotta handle it in a certain way.
You gotta handle it in a certain way.

And the way we're gonna do it

is we're gonna keep working,
we're gonna bear down harder,

and we're gonna put damn 70
on everybody we play.

You understand?
Ain't no... ain't no letting up.

Nobody stops the train.

[players] Yes, sir.
[coach] What does that entail?

You can be here... Can you still ride
the bus with us on game day?

-[Buddy] No, nothing.
-Nothing.

-You can be in the stands, can't you?
-[Buddy] Nope. Nothing.

-[coach] Really?
-Can't be nothing.

-[Trickett] Can you suspend them?
-Mmm.

-[Trickett] I'm just kidding.
-[all laughing]

[Wood] No, you weren't!
[Trickett] Kinda.

[all laughing]

-[Williams] Go! Go! Slick hands.
-[players grunting]

[Williams] Go! Go!

-[clanks]
-Good.

[indistinct chatter]

[Wood] Over. Work back.

Sit. You're all right.
Hop up.

-[DJ] I hate doing this shit.
-Let's go. Up, up.

That's fine.
That's fine.

Hop up. Hop up.
Walk around.

Hey, get a drink, get a drink.
You're all right.

[sighs]

-That boy went and got super excited.
-Went and got a robo-leg.

-[snickers] Go-go-gadget knee!
-[all chuckling]

You gotta cut it,
you can't think about it.

You gotta go.

-That shit harder than it sound, though.
-No, my shit...

I remember my brother tore his ACL,
he was scared to cut

when he came back.

Scared.

He out here,
he might as well do somethin'. Oh, hell...

[chuckles] Fuck that, he still got
somewhere to go after this.

[Williams] There you go! Good!

-[blows whistle]
-[Wood] There we go. Right!

-Slow as a motherfucker.
-They make you wear it, too?

They ain't making me wear it, but...
I'm wearing it.

I don't wanna take that bitch off.

You... you do?

I don't.

To keep my knee, like,
straight or some shit.

Bro, I can't sit another week, bro.
I'm not trying to sit another week.

They tell me I'm sittin' another week,
I'm going home, soon as they tell me that.

-[both chuckle]
-You're going to the city?

Fuck school and everything.

[Wood] He'd been a little bit down
with his knee and everything, he's blue.

He ended up
with a tear in his PCL,

which is something they're not gonna
operate on or anything like that.

But it'll sideline him
for at least a week.

To be honest, between me and you,
it's probably going to be two,

'cause I'm not gonna rush him back.

I'm gonna make sure his leg's
taken care of before we get him back out.

Keep... keep loving him up.
We got him from this end.

But just make sure you encourage him
from the house.

You know how that goes. He just...
I just don't want him getting blue on me.

[Wagner] DJ Law.

English...

[sighs] Fifty-five.
He went down a bunch of points.

Good Lord.

Is anybody passing English?

-Did you already take the test?
-Yes.

[Wagner] Are you in class?

Did you just get there?

Okay. You're aware that you...

you cannot miss Math again.

Or College Studies.

I'm aware.

[Wagner] What'd they say about his knee?

He's definitely out for two weeks.

He's out for two?

That's pretty good for a knee injury.

Could have been the whole season, right?

I mean, I'll take two weeks.

I thought he was gonna be out for good.

[computer chimes]

Oh, he just lied to my face.

I just got a message from his teacher.

DJ showed up 30 minutes late to class.

Well, it's 10:00.
The class started at 9:30.

I just said, "Did you just get there?"
He said, "No."

-[typing]
-[computer chimes]

That's gonna be an absence.

-Did he go back in?
-[Derrick Conner] Mmm-mmm.

He just came in here
to get a freaking pencil,

and he didn't go back in there?

He's outside on his phone.

Was that DJ?

[student] Yes, ma'am.

[student 2] Yeah.

[student 3] DJ right there.

Where... where are you?

Where are you?
You're not in class.

And you came in and got a pencil
and then you left.

And you were 30 minutes late.

Okay.

-[chuckles] Who you talkin'--
-He just hung up on me.

Who that is?

Oh, you about to call Coach.

-Don't hang up on me. Ever.
-[chuckles]

[scoffs]

We are so freaking weak.

[cell phone chimes]

He's packing up his clothes.

Leaving 'cause he's hurt
and he's gonna miss two games

and he can't take this shit anymore.

What is that about?
Explain that to me, please, Gary.

Help me to understand the mentality of,
just, like,

when something isn't going your way,
you just make it worse and quit.

You've done it. Ollie's done it.
DJ's done it.

I've had players, you know,
every year since I've been here...

That's their mentality. Like,
when something isn't going their way,

then it's, "Fuck this, and I'm quitting
this shit and packing up."

And going back to what?

Where does that come from?

What is that about?

You get tired of it sometimes.

But like...
Okay, but what is the alternative?

What are you gonna do that's
better than what you're trying to do?

-Mmm-hmm.
-What's Plan B?

You get tired of it.

[DJ's friend]
You going to the city, bro?

[DJ] That's what up.

[music playing on car stereo]

[preacher] All of us are gonna
go through some adversity. Amen.

All of us are gonna have...
a valley.

[congregation] Oh, yes.

We're not always
gonna be on the mountain top...

-[congregation] Yes.
-...but sometimes it's necessary

for us to go through the valley.

-I can't hide from it.
-[man] Yes, sir.

I can't run from it.

-I can't try to dodge it.
-All right.

My question to you today is,

"How will you handle
your valley experience?"

[Wallace] Yes, he will.

Yes, he is.

Yes, he is.

Ha!

[growling]

[inaudible]

[announcer] Just a weird
situation last week.

Buddy Stephens will not be with us
for the next two games.

Unfortunately, having to
watch from home tonight.

Marcus Wood, the interim head coach
for this week and next week.

The tailback, Isaiah Wright,
will have an opportunity tonight

as he is filling in
for the injured DJ Law.

I know I'm gonna have to work,

'cause I'm the starting running back
this game 'cause DJ is hurt.

So it's all on me.

[announcer] Roberts takes a snap,
leaves it with Wright,

goes up the middle, gets to the goal line,
dives, touchdown, EMCC!

[Wood] Good job! Good job!

[announcer]
Here's the snap to Roberts,

gonna leave it on the ground with Wright.

Wright, trying to bounce it
to the outside near side,

gets inside the five,
dives for the pylon...

Touchdown, EMCC!

Isaiah Wright showing
some athletic ability,

and that's his third touchdown
of this game.

And how about Marcus Wood?

It's 28-nothing, EMCC,
with 7:05 to go in Ellisville.

Back to Bobcat Stadium in a moment,
this is the EMCC Football Network.

[Cleveland] Back then,
from what I've been told,

you wouldn't see anything like
you see today.

I mean, there was one time
that they made him sit in a chair,

Bull Sullivan, because he had
gone out on the field

and kicked a football
the week before.

They made him sit in a chair
the whole game,

that was the penalty,
he had to sit still in a chair.

Just gotta win this one, boys.
Win this one.

[Vic] He had assembled a team that was
better than the one he had in '64.

He never bragged,
but he told my mama, said, uh,

"This year's gonna be like a card game

and I'm gonna have a royal flush."

And then he got fired the summer
before that fall started.

-Shit!
-[phone chimes]

[Studdard] The present school
assembled board members

and took a vote to oust him...

I think they were afraid that Coach would
throw one of those fits,

and, uh, embarrass
their college or something.

They were afraid of what he might do.

Dang! Facemask.

You know, he'd done dedicated nearly
all of his adult life to the school.

And it killed him.

[Cleveland] He literally died
from heartbreak.

Didn't know how to act,
or how to live without having football.

[shouting] What are you talking about?
Why'd you throw that?

Why'd you throw that?

Golly. Bum.

[alumnus] A tough, hard-nose redneck
from the swamp, like I am.

You know, just speaking of him...

will make tears come in your eyes.

[voice breaking]
You know, we loved him.

You know he was a good coach.
And you know he was a good man.

[Studdard] He loved this place.

This is a place that, uh...

[wincing]

We honor the past.

But we're proud of where we are now,
and we look forward to the future,

because we know that there...

there are good days ahead.