Although he is preparing for a fourth title, head coach Brice Brown is focused on something else: keeping his players alive. For years, this football program has brought glory to Algiers, winning three consecutive state championships and sending dozens of young men to college on football scholarships.

Short on hope but big on dreams, its mostly poor and marginalized residents find joy on Friday nights when the Cougars of Edna Karr High School take the field. On the west bank of the Mississippi lies the New Orleans neighborhood of Algiers. Featuring eight pages of full-color photos, Across the River is an indelible true sto.Book Description Paperback. Now, he builds on his early reporting to offer a rich and deep portrait of this man, his players, and Algiers itself, where neighbors try to make the best of a terrible situation. At night, he patrols the city in his rusted truck, iPhone in hand, dialing each of his players to make sure they made it home alive.Īward-winning sports journalist Kent Babb told Coach Brown& s story in the pages of the Washington Post. Determined to protect his boys, Coach Brown fills their days with workouts, team activities, and grueling marathon practice sessions. An epidemic of gun violence plagues New Orleans and its surrounding communities and has claimed too many innocent lives, including Coach Brown& s former star quarterback, Tollette & Tonka& George, shot at a local gas station. While planning for a fourth title, thirty-three-year-old head football coach Brice Brown is focused on something much more important: keeping the 96 teenagers on his team alive. For three years, this team of scrappy, talented athletes have brought glory to Edna Karr and Algiers, winning three straight consecutive state championships in Louisiana& s ultra-competitive Class 4A division. Short on hope and big dreams, its mostly poor and marginalized residents find joy on Friday nights in fall, when the Cougars of Edna Karr High School take the field. On the west bank of the Mississippi, across from the tourist-heavy French Quarter, lies the New Orleans neighborhood of Algiers. Across the River : Life, Death, and Football in an American CityĪ heartbreaking and inspiring true story& Friday Night Lights meets Ghettoside& of a New Orleans high school football team and their head coach's mission to protect his players& lives.

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