NOT THE WHOLE STORY

Rating: Null/10 (10 October 2004)

OK...here are the FACTS!
Odessa Permian was great. The stuff about the regular season and the coin-flip were DEAD ON!
But...they DID NOT PLAY Dallas Carter in the State Final. They met in the State SEMI-FINAL. And the game wasn't in Houston, it was in Austin. Dallas Carter won that game 14-9.
See the following from Dallasnews.com
Permian magic no match for Cowboys, 14-9 08:20 PM CDT on Thursday, October 7, 2004
By JIM SOUHAN / The Dallas Morning News
Editor's note: This story originally appeared in the Dec. 11, 1988 editions of The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN - Finally free from a month-long court battle over the eligibility of one of their players, the Carter Cowboys joined their attorneys and administrators Saturday and showed why their community has fought so hard in their defense.
Carter waded through metaphorically stormy weather - the game was played in torrential rain - and survived a last-minute comeback attempt by Odessa Permian, a team famed for dramatic endings and state championships, to earn its first state final berth.
Carter's 14-9 victory before 10,000 at Austin Memorial Stadium means the Cowboys (13-0-1), who had lost state semifinals in 1971, '75 and '82, will play Converse Judson (14-1) in the Class 5A title game next Saturday at noon at Texas Stadium. Judson ousted Houston Stratford, 16-0, in Saturday's other semifinal. Permian (12-3) suffered three losses in a season for the first time since 1968.
"We deserve a week without controversy," Carter All-America linebacker Jessie Armstead said. "We're a bunch of 16-, 17- and 18-year-olds. This was not a good experience. We might look tough, but this was wearing on us."
But Carter's passing defense and passing offense were just tough enough. This week, Carter didn't even need any of Armstead's late offensive heroics - like the touchdown pass he caught with three seconds remaining to beat Marshall in the quarter-finals.
"We said when we were sophomores that we were going to state,' said All-America safety Derric Evans. "Now we're on top of the world."
Permian took a 6-0 lead on a 31-yard, tackle-breaking run by tailback Chris Comer, but Carter made it 7-6 a minute later, with 2:18 remaining in the first half, on a 58-yard touchdown drive in which all 58 yards came on three Robert Hall to Marcus Grant passes. On the touchdown play, Grant cut over the middle, beat perhaps the only single coverage he saw all day, and hauled in Hall's pass, scoring untouched from 18 yards.
Permian took a 9-7 lead with 8:48 remaining in the third period on a 30-yard Alan Wyles field goal set up by Steve Womack's blocked punt. But Carter came back at the beginning of the fourth on a 27-yard touchdown pass from Hall to fullback David Jones, providing the winning margin.
On that play, the cornerback assigned to cover Jones blitzed, and when Hall spun out of that defender's tackle, Jones found himself wide open on the left sideline. He caught the short pass and sprinted between two defenders for the touchdown. It was the first time Jones had touched the ball.
Having scored 14 points, Carter's offense left the team's fate up to its defense, which wasn't a bad idea. Permian barely moved the ball on its next two possessions. Then, on the Panthers' last possession, they began on their 48 and reached the Carter 11.
But on the play Permian advanced that far, a Permian lineman was called for holding Armstead, pushing the Panthers back to the 36. Two plays later, on fourth-and-six from the 24 with 13 seconds remaining, Permian quarterback Mike Winchell, who was held to 4-of-25 passing, tried a short pass. Armstead knocked it away and Carter's celebration, which left a few tears on the watery turf, began.
"I believe our quarterback was better than their quarterback," Carter coach Freddie James said. "I think that was the difference." Carter's defense also had some a hand -- actually, a few strong hands -- in the outcome.
"There's been a black cloud hanging over our heads," Armstead said. "But I couldn't see us going out because of this controversy, and I couldn't see losing my last high school game."
Instead, Armstead and Co. have given themselves a chance to win Carter's first state championship.
I am VERY disappointed in this film. It is NO WHERE near the truth (and I understand that "based" on a true story does not mean "true story").