Carol


            In December of 2002, Grant Taylor's (Alex Kendrick) Eagles, of Shiloh Christian Academy, are slightly behind against the Tucker Tigers, late in the fourth quarter. Taylor shouts to Zach Avery (Brandon Glow), "Cross the Thirty!" He wants his offense to get within good field-goal position. But Zach, though his receiver Jonathan Weston (Tommy McBride) is open, gets sacked. Since this is fourth down, the Tigers take the ball, fall on it, and run out the clock. So ends the game, and another losing season--Taylor's sixth in a row.The 2003 season begins with some dire news: Darrin, the Eagles' top scorer in 2002, has moved in with his father so he can transfer to the rival Tucker school. Taylor's offensive and defensive co-coordinators, J. T. Hawkins (Chris Willis) and Brady Owens (Tracy Goode), break it to him. He then has to break it to his players, who of course take it very badly.When Grant drives home, his car dies after he barely gets off the road. His house has a very bad smell, which neither he nor his wife Brooke (Shannen Fields) can figure out. Their evening meal will be cold, because their stove does not work. Also, their combined salaries ($24,000 a year for Grant, and the $6,000 that Brooke makes in the local florist's shop) will not let them improve their situation. And to top it all, Brooke desperately wants to be pregnant, and yet again takes a home pregnancy test, finds it negative, and carelessly leaves the test kit for Grant to find.In the next scene, sportscaster Alicia Houston (Erin Catt) reports on this year's defending champions, the Richland Giants. Coach Bobby Lee Duke (Jim McBride) is itching for a match-up with anyone who dares challenge their title.That Friday night, the season begins--badly. Twenty-three to nothing--and on their home turf, yet. The failure of Grant's car to start in the parking lot does not help his mood. Nor does Brooke's embarrassment as Grant has to ask Brady to give him a jump start. He'd like to buy a new compact car, but the facts remain: they cannot afford it. Brooke also says her gynecologist says there is no physical reason why Brooke cannot have children. So Grant agrees to see a urologist to check his own reproductive system.Monday begins with a student named Stanley (Jason Rossi) finding himself, desk and all, on top of the teacher's desk. With the students laughing at him, he dismounts--with difficulty. Then the teacher tells Brock Kelley, the team captain, that he and Stanley are in detention for their little joke--and for their poor grades.The coaching team faces some more sad facts: they have the toughest season they've ever had, with the least amount of talent. In the middle of it, Grant leaves for his doctor's appointment--and leaves J. T. and Brady to argue about what kind of doctor Grant is going to. (J. T. suggests Grant is going to see a dermatologist to see about a hair transplant; Brady doubts that.)That afternoon, David Childers (Bailey Cave) talks to his father, Larry Childers (Steve Williams), about his athletic options. He is new at Shiloh, and they don't have a soccer program. Larry encourages his son to try out for the football team as a kicker, even though he is of shorter stature than average and has never kicked a football in his life.The next afternoon, Alvin Pervis (Mike Garner), one of the fathers, talks to Brady Owens and invites him to a secret meeting aimed at replacing Grant Taylor as head coach--and naming Brady to replace him. The fathers have asked for a meeting with Dan Ryker(Dennis Erickson), the A.D. Grant asks Brady about the talk with Pervis, but gets nothing out of him. Just then, Larry and David Childers show up, and David tries out as a kicker. Jonathan Weston, the regular kick holder, doesn't mind the tryout--because Joshua Webster (Chris Matthews, with Mark Gahagan as stunt double), the regular place kicker, doubles as a wide receiver and would rather receive than kick. David kicks a lot of balls wide or short--but finally manages to kick the ball straight through the goal posts.After practice, Matt Prater (James Blackwell) has another fruitless argument with his father, Neil Prater (Bill Butler), over his after-practice schedule--and the coaching team notices old Mr. Bridges (Ray Wood) praying over the school lockers, as he always does. J. T. recommends that David Childers stay on the team as a relief kicker.However, that Friday night, Shiloh loses to Dewey County, twenty-one to seven--when Dewey hasn't beaten Shiloh in more than ten years. And angry Grant roars at his players for their apathy, the missed practices, and all the mistakes they made on the field.David talks to his father about that sobering session, and about whether he can help the team at all as a kicker. Larry encourages his son not to give in to his fears. (The wheelchair-bound Larry also gives his son a turn when he tries to touch up a paint spot his son missed, and falls back into his chair, making a racket that brings David running.)On Monday, Grant sees the urologist, Dr. William Jordan (Wayne Holley), for his follow-up appointment. The news is dire: his sperm count is low. Too low. (The film does not mention this, but that's the most logical problem.) Grant spends the day moping about it, even staying late at the school because he doesn't want to face Brooke. And so he overhears Alvin Pervis, Neil Prader, and Luke Prey talking to A. D. Dan Ryker about replacing him. Ryker stands up for his head coach, but he has three fathers telling him that Grant has to go. What makes it worse: Brady Owens is at that meeting, saying nothing. Ryker makes no decision--but Grant does not stick around to hear the end of the meeting.A humiliated Grant finally goes home and confesses everything to Brooke--about the secret meeting he overheard with the A. D., and about what the urologist told him. That scene ends with the two of them sitting at their kitchen table and crying. That night, Brooke wakes up at 3:11 a.m. to find Grant sitting up in their living room, reading a book--presumably his Bible. So she gets down on her knees and prays.On Saturday morning Grant walks out into a nearby forest and offers a heartfelt prayer to God, to tell him what His will really is for his life. It's early, so Brooke once again wakes up in an empty bed--but now she comes out to join him and assure him she will accept whatever adventure the Lord sends them.The next game ends just as badly as the last two. David Childers takes a shot at a field goal--and misses. David feels terrible about that, but Larry will not let his son quit.Alvin Pervis takes yet another chance to ask Brady Owens to try out for head coach to replace Grant. This time Grant walks up and stares Alvin down, forcing him to retreat. Then Grant tells Brady to decide once for all whose side he is on, and stay on it.On Monday morning, Mr. Bridges does more than pray over lockers. He walks in on Grant to share with him Revelation 3:7-8, about Him Who opens and no man shuts, and shuts and no man opens. He also shares with Grant a parable about two farmers who prayed for rain--but only one of them cultivated his fields to prepare for that rain.Grant takes the hint. He draws up a new working team philosophy: to give all to God, and concentrate on that, not on something idle like winning games. Brooke likes what he has written, and sees that it's applicable to their home life, too.Grant lays this on the team the next day, with a simple illustration: no one can remember who won the State championship five years earlier.Out on the field, Grant tells them that their attitude is "the aroma of the heart." If the heart stinks, so does the attitude, and that carries over. To prove that, he puts his players through the Death Crawl--on all fours, with the knees off the ground, and another teammate on one's back--for ten yards. But when Brock Kelley (Jason McLeod), the lead tackle, and his friend Jeremy Johnson (Chris Heape) start talking about the coming match with Westview, as if it is already lost, Grant singles out Brock and Jeremy for a special exercise. He will ask Brock to do the Death Crawl, with Jeremy on his back, for fifty yards--blindfolded. Of course what he actually does is push Brock to go all the way to the opposite end zone--and when the rest of the team sees that, they stand up and stare in wonder. Grant tells Brock that he, Brock, is the most influential player on the team--so his attitude affects others.The demonstration impresses Brock, and the rest of the team. It also impresses J. T.--and Brady, who at last decides whose side he's on.Grant then takes a moment to tell Matt Prater to stop taking a disrespectful attitude toward his father. "You can't judge your father by his acts and then judge yourself by your intentions. It doesn't work that way," he says. One complication exists: Matt is at Shiloh because Westview kicked him out. That will be important later in the week. (Recall that Neil Prader is also one of the three fathers who tried to persuade the A. D. to fire Grant.)That evening, Grant finally finds the source of the bad smell in the house: a dead mouse. He teases Brooke unmercifully about it, but is still glad to get rid of it.The next day, J. T. finally tells David Childers what he needs to know about kicking: not to approach every kick as if he's going to kick it wide. He even quotes the Scriptures about the wide gate and the narrow gate. Brady loves overhearing that, and so does Grant. More to the point: it works, because David does start kicking the ball straight.Next day, another teacher shows a truly awesome scene: a revival, happening right on the field, this after Mitch (Brian Kelley), the Bible teacher, brought his class out to the field. Matt Prater started it, the teacher says. While Mr. Bridges makes his blessing walk along the lockers, Matt asks Grant to drive him to his father's workplace--so that Matt can tell Neil Prater, in front of his business associate Mr. Jones (David Nixon), that from now on, what he says goes. Neil is profoundly grateful to hear his son say that--and is even more grateful to Coach Grant Taylor for bringing Matt in so Matt could say that.Friday night arrives, for the match with Westview. Grant gives one last pep talk, before letting Brock Kelley lead the team in prayer.And this time the outcome is a lot different: Shiloh beats Westview.The team has a new attitude, that carries into their studies. Teachers look twice at these former "dumb jocks" who are at last applying themselves to their studies as well as they apply themselves on the playing field.More games take place, with straight wins. Walker Jennings falls. Then David Childers kicks the winning field goal against another school.Next Monday afternoon, Neil Prater and his son anonymously give Grant another incredible gift: a brand-new Ford F-130 pickup truck. They even swap it out for his old blue car with the dying battery. "Not a word to anyone," Neil commands his son. Grant hardly dares believe it--but the title doesn't lie.The victories keep rolling in as the season rolls on. Ivey Grove falls, 14-10. Next week Shiloh wins its fifth straight victory. And then the sixth--which sends Shiloh into the State playoffs.The day after that last win, Grant drops into Brooke's flower shop and places an order with Brooke--for flowers that he will give her when he takes her out to dinner. He has news: Dan Ryker gave him a $6,000 raise.The playoffs begin, but don't go so well. Shiloh plays the Panthers of Princeton Heights Academy--and loses, 28-10. Grant encourages his players to praise God anyway, win or lose. Matt Prater takes the lead to encourage the team to do just that.And on Monday afternoon, Stanley Shultz (Walter Burnett) of the Georgia Inter-Scholastic Athletic League calls Grant with electrifying, gotta-sit-down-for-this news. Grant summons his players to break it to them: Princeton Heights fielded two ineligible 19-year-olds. Results: Princeton Heights disqualified, and Shiloh advances to the next round--against Tucker, where Darrin had transferred.Friday night arrives, and the Eagles beat the Tucker Tigers. Putting in the game-winning score: relief kicker David Childers.Next week, Brooke tells her employer (Jackie Everson) that she has been nauseous for two mornings in a row. The employer tells her to see a doctor.Friday night arrives, and Mr. Bridges listens as the Eagles score a game-winning touchdown. Twenty-to-seventeen, and the Eagles now will face the Richland Giants in the State final.The last Friday arrives: Eagles against Giants. That morning, Brooke encourages Grant not to give in to fear--and not to worry about her, either, though she won't tell him where she will go.She goes to the gynecologist and takes yet another pregnancy test.David Childers prepares for his big night, though he is convinced he will never play, because he is still second-string.At the gynecologist's office, a heartbroken Nurse Laura (Cynthia Overvoll) gets the news from another nurse (Shelly Brown): the pregnancy test is negative--again. Laura breaks this news to Brooke. But as Brooke prepares to leave, the filing nurse (Candace Howell) discovers, with a shock, that they have mixed up the results! Brooke Taylor's results are in fact positive! The excited Laura rushes out to the parking lot to tell Brooke before she can pull out.Game time arrives, and Grant's old coach at Shiloh (Mark Richt) comes to give Grant some encouragement.Bobby Lee Duke is as cocky as ever, with his eighty-five players against only thirty-two for the Eagles. The first half goes well enough for the Giants. Fourteen-to-nothing, Giants. Grant Taylor orders: blitz on the next first down. They do--and intercept a pass and return it for a score! The half ends: fourteen to seven, Giants.Grant now orders: outsmart them, with trick plays.Second half begins, and the Eagles' tricks work. They tie the game. Then Coach Duke orders: "Make them pay!" A Giant player takes that literally--and clips Joshua Webster on the extra-point kick, breaking his collarbone and knocking him out of the game. So David Childers must kick from now on.Next scoring drive ends: twenty-to-fourteen Giants, as the Giants fail of their two-point conversion.Seven minutes left: the Giants get to fourth down, and kick a field goal to extend their lead.Next play: double-blitz long. It ends with another TD and one-point conversion. Score: 23-21.Next drive: the Giants close to first-and-goal. Grant tells Brock Kelley to find his strength--and Brock shouts to his defensive team, "Stone wall!" And so the Eagle defense, under Brock's leadership, make an incredible goal-line stand. And when Coach Duke refuses the field goal, that sets up the Eagles to cause a fumble, recover, and return the ball to the Giants' thirty-four yard line!And then, with a scant two seconds left to play, Grant issues his final order: David Childers must kick a fifty-one-yard field goal. David doubts he can do this, but Grant tells him, once again, to lay aside his fears. The sports announcers can't understand it, especially since the wind is against David. But Coach Duke makes a mistake: he calls a time-out when he doesn't' have to. And then, at the last second, the wind shifts--and when David sees his father standing up in his wheelchair, he moves in to make the kick.It is good.Final score: twenty-four to twenty-three, Eagles.In the locker room, Grant asks his players to dare tell him what's impossible with God. Answer: nothing, of course. He singles out David for his field goal, Zach for his quarterbacking, and Brock for his defensive leadership.That night, Brooke breaks to Grant some more joyous news that he hasn't heard yet: that he just "made the Daddy team."Two years later, Grant Taylor, with two State championship trophies on his wall, has a year-old son (Luke Parr) who has his own model football field to play with--and Brooke obviously has another baby on the way.
    

Facing the Giants


            
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Shannen Fields

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