At Edna Karr High School in New Orleans, football coach Brice Brown and his Cougars have their eyes on a fifth straight Louisiana state championship. But a run for another title is shadowed by violence in Algiers, one of the city's deadliest neighborhoods.

As Hurricane Ida batters New Orleans, several players and coaches evacuate Algiers. The Cougars are dominant as ever when the season finally starts despite a key injury in the squad. In a close game against crosstown rivals, a new superstar emerges.