Diverse Worlds of Two Prep Teams

For football fans across the country and beyond, New Orleans is the center of the universe this week, where one of the most grandiose sporting events in the world will unfold Sunday before a sellout crowd and a television audience of millions.

But A&E;’s focus at 9 tonight is on football on a smaller stage, where athletes still in their teens play out dramas that for them can seem equal to that of any Super Bowl.

“Wide Open: Inside the World of High School Football” is a hard-hitting two hours that follows a pair of prep teams across the 2001 season: the Jefferson High School Democrats from Los Angeles and West Texas’ Stephenville High Yellowjackets.

The schools are separated by much more than geography. The Yellowjackets are an almost exclusively white team, hailing from the cattle ranches and dairy farms of suburban Erath County. Jefferson’s roster of blacks and Latinos and its urban setting fill the other half of the equation.

There are common denominators, such as the struggle for gridiron success and the hopes for college scholarships and even the NFL, but the differences are given center stage.

While the Texas players’ world is portrayed as one of workouts, church dances and trips to the diner, the Jefferson players are shown coping with graffiti, broken homes and even parenthood. Police cruisers are prominent at their games and the neighborhood.

“Many people consider this the killing fields,” says Democrats Coach Hank Johnson. “This is one of the toughest areas of Los Angeles, bar none.”

The playing field is far from level, yet a strong sense of camaraderie and some quiet heroes emerge from both teams. For the two schools, as well as tonight’s viewers, it’s a season to remember.