One Great Game: Two Teams, Two Dreams, in the First Ever National Championship High School Football Game

by Don Wallace

In the rich tradition of Friday Night Lights comes this heart-stopping account of the first ever national championship high school football game. They said such a game was impossible. For 131 years, a No. 1 and a No. 2 high school team had never met -- though not for lack of trying. Then came October 6, 2001: two great teams, Concord De La Salle and Long Beach Poly, playing for all the marbles. Two contrasting cities, each upholding its vision of America. One thrilling game. On the one side we find Concord, a wealthy, high-tech suburb in Northern California. De La Salle is private, nearly all white, and Catholic, with an astonishing nine-year, 113-game winning streak -- the longest of any team in any sport in history, amateur or professional. Coach Bob Ladouceur is a legend, and a mystic who demands perfection. The Spartans thrive on year-round training and a spirit of love. Critics call them a cult. Long Beach is a gritty, mostly poor, Southern California seaport, the most diverse city in America. Poly High sends more players to the NFL than any other school, more students to the University of California, and alums such as Cameron Diaz and Snoop Dogg to stardom. Poly High is a beacon of public school excellence. But the Jackrabbits play in a fishbowl of high expectations and often excessive community scrutiny. On both teams the young men are tested physically, mentally, spiritually, and most of all by the intense media spotlight on their behavior, skin color, SAT scores, economic class, and moral character. Would they crumple under the pressure? Can they withstand the lure of drug and supplement abuse while fighting off the distractions of college recruiters and rabid fans? One Great Game takes us inside the schools and their teams, into the hearts and minds of the players, coaches, teachers, parents, and followers. Don Wallace spent a full year in their locker rooms and in their lives. The result is a powerful portrait not only of American high school sports but of two cultures that taken together define modern American life.

Genres: Sports

320 pages, Hardcover

First published September 13, 2003

About the author

Don Wallace is a prize-winning journalist and author whose books include The French House: An American Family, a Ruined Maison, and the Village that Restored Them All (2014), Hot Water, a novel (1991), and One Great Game: Two Teams, Two Dreams, in the First-Ever High School Football National Championship Game (2003). His essays, articles and fiction have appeared in such various publications as Harper’s, The New York Times, SELF, Fast Company, Wine Spectator and Naval History. His nonfiction and fiction have covered topics ranging from the American Revolution and Civil Rights movement to Hawaii's special breed of con artists and Miami’s drug-smuggling kingpins. Born in Long Beach, California, he is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and the University of California at Santa Cruz. Now living in Honolulu after 27 years in Manhattan, he returns annually to France with his wife, the author Mindy Pennybacker, both to write and to renew his sense of wonder.

Reviews

[Hunter Higgins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading through this book for the first time. The author of this book enjoys using past memories in order to give you context about what is coming next. The author uses many different ways in order to convey the emotions of characters in the book. The one downside I would say is that keeping up with the time periods is pretty confusing. Overall I would recommend that everyone who enjoys sports read this book as it gives you insight on what it feels like to play the game.

[keving chaupiz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh, I have had it; I have had it with this school, Skinner! The low test scores, class after class of ugly, ugly children.
-Oh, now I really think the children's appearance-
Seymour! You are in very, very big trouble.

[Tom Gase · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book that's been done before (Friday Night Lights) on the first national championship game played between high school teams. The author, Don Wallace, does a good job of explaining the atmosphere in Long Beach Poly and De La Salle, which has a 113-game winning streak coming into the season. It was interesting reading this book because De La Salle is located in Concord, which isn't too far from Vallejo. The game takes place in 2001, so I remember this game taking place when I was just starting out to be a stringer for the Vallejo Times-Herald newspaper. A nice book to go back in time with. An interesting tidbit--I didn't realize that Maurice Jones-Drew (then known as Maurice Drew) and Marcedes Lewis both played in this game. The two later became teammates at UCLA and are now teammates with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Basically the only game they've ever played against each other was this game featured in the book. Would make for a nice short newspaper article with this game coming on 10 years if you ask me. I recommend this book for any fan of football or just high school sports in general.

[Scott Beddingfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

excellent story telling. enjoyed immensely except for the last 2 chapters which dragged out an important high school rivalry game to the nth degree. liked especially thei history of various California towns, insight into various coach/player personalities and coaching/training philosophies.

[Shin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I agree with the reviewers who said the book is similar to Friday Night Lights (which I loved). This book doesn't go as deeply into the personal lives of the players as FNL did, but goes into the background of the hometowns of each school. I enjoyed this book.

[John Devlin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Friday Night Lights lite. Towns, teams and what it all means.