Moving the Chains at Oak Hill

"Teams are terrified to come down here and play us," Henderson said. "If you want to see the heart of your team, bring them in here. Let them play inside the fence. That's intimidation right there. That fence is worth at least a touchdown each game."

Coolidge made the 25-mile trip to come inside the fence on a Tuesday afternoon in late September. Thirty-five junior varsity players and four coaches boarded a bus Oak Hill had sent for them, whitewashed with bars covering the windows.

After arriving at Oak Hill's gatehouse, sophomores DaMonte Jones and Michael Hutcherson and their teammates handed their helmets and shoulder pads to a guard, who passed the equipment through an X-ray machine. A security officer patted down the players to search for drugs or weapons and wrote their names in a visitor logbook. Four officers ushered Coolidge players through a gate, which closed behind them with a screech.

"I feel like I'm in a movie," Jones said.

"Yeah," Hutcherson said. "A horror movie."

Oak Hill scored on its first three offensive plays and took a 42-0 lead into halftime, but mutiny percolated on the Oak Hill sideline in the third and fourth quarters. Players argued about problems that would become endemic during the Tigers' regular season, even though they often won easily with a team of older, more experienced players facing junior varsity squads of freshmen and sophomores.

Against Coolidge, every player wanted to start. Every player wanted to score touchdowns. Even Terrell, the captain and running back, had a gripe.

"Bones, come on, man! Put me in there," Terrell said, stalking the sideline in the third quarter. "Let me shine, man. I need a couple touchdowns."

"Sit down," Henderson told him. "It's 42 to zero. You don't need nothin'."

Terrell pursed his lips, shook his head and threw his football gloves to the ground.

"Fine," he said, talking to nobody in particular. "But I'm about to catch a new charge. It's called bashing the coach over the head with a football helmet."

Cold Surroundings

Terrell became team captain partly because he was Oak Hill's only three-year starter, a dubious achievement. He arrived at the detention center as a 14-year-old in June 2004 and stayed until his release in November 2005. He returned on a new conviction less than three months later, well in time for a third football season. Because he's a juvenile, his record is sealed and details of his crimes are not public record. Terrell, his attorney and his family consented for his name to be used in this story.