All American – Championships

By starrymag | March 28, 2019

By: Jessica Wolff

 

 

Spencer James (Daniel Ezra) trains for the State Championship against Crenshaw, conflicted about the game. Corey James (Chad L. Coleman) comments that he’s hard to track down, and Spencer replies that it’s clearly not that hard. Coach Billy Baker (Taye Diggs) tells them that all practices this week are private, but Corey tells him he’s just visiting his son. Billy tells him rules are rules, and Spencer leaves them both on the field.

 

Laura Fine-Baker (Monet Mazur) tells Tamia ‘Coop’ Cooper (Bre-Z) that they need Preach to be conscious to identify Tyrone Morris (Demetrius Shipp Jr.) as his shooter. Coop tells her that Preach won’t snitch, and Laura assures her the cops are still looking for Tyrone. Spencer asks how they can keep Coop safe in the meantime, and Grace James (Karimah Westbrook) suggests she move back in with them.

 

Janelle Cooper (Judith Scott) tells Coop she’ll move back in with her and Reggie Cooper (James Black), and Coop asks what happened to not being welcome at home. Janelle tells her they can’t work things out if she’s not alive. Coop talks to Malik (Mikelen Walker), Jamal (Antwon D. Jones) and Andre (Akono Dixon) about bringing down Tyrone, giving them each a task. Malik gets mad at her for giving out orders, and she asks if he has a better plan. He asks what she’s going to do if Tyrone comes after her and Coop declares she’ll be ready for him.

 

Billy runs the team through practice and asks Jordan Baker (Michael Evans Behling) to stay behind. Jordan asks if he wants to talk about football and tells Billy they have nothing to say to each other when Billy confirms it’s not. Spencer arrives, explaining that he was helping Coop. Billy tells him he needs his head in the game, and Spencer questions how he’s able to focus on the game with everything going on. Billy tells him the game is all he has left and asks Spencer if he’ll be ready for the game. Spencer promises he will be, but Billy tells him that he needs to pick his family on the field.

 

Grace sees that Spencer isn’t excited about the state championship, and he explains that the state championship is the biggest thing that happened to Crenshaw in a while, admitting that he never thought he’d feel like a stranger in his own hood. Grace asks if he’s talked to Chris (Spence Moore II) or his other friends, suggesting that it’s a good idea.

 

Asher Adams (Cody Christian) is surprised to see Olivia Baker (Samantha Logan) cooking with Harold Adams (Casper Van Dien), and Olivia explained that she stopped by to visit. Harold thanks Olivia for her help, and Asher admits it’s been a while since he’s seen him smile. Asher asks Olivia how she’s holding up and she admits she’s worried about Jordan. Asher offers his help and Olivia ignores a call from Leila Keating (Greta Onieogou).

 

Corey plays basketball with Spencer and Dillon James (Jalyn Hall), and Corey asks to take a break. Spencer asks him what the plan is, and Corey tells him he’s tired of running and is looking for a job in Crenshaw. He asks how Spencer would feel about him staying, and Spencer tells him he’s asking for Dillon. Spencer tells Dillon they need to go, but Corey offers to take Dillon home for him. Spencer agrees, and Corey tells him he’s not planning on breaking his or Dillon’s hearts again.

 

Spencer takes Leila to Crenshaw’s pep rally and Chris introduces Pastor Weeks (Daryl C. Brown) to the crowd. Weeks comments that he knows nobody wants to hear from their pastor at a pep rally but tells them he’s there to celebrate the team. He declares they’re showing people what Crenshaw is really about, telling them greatness is their destiny to much applause.

 

Leila approaches Olivia after the pep rally, asking if she plans to avoid her forever. She apologizes for not immediately telling her about Billy’s affair, but Olivia admits that’s not the issue. Olivia explains that they’ve lied to each other this year too many times, declaring that being best friends with someone shouldn’t be this much work. Spencer approaches the team, but Cameron (Mitchell Edwards) tells him he’s at the wrong pep rally. Chris asks what he’s doing there, and Spencer tells him he wants to celebrate with them. Chris reminds him they’re playing each other, and that he picked his team when he transferred.

 

Leila tells Spencer that her father replaced everything in the house quickly but didn’t check on her. She comments that they both got dumped by their best friends, and Spencer apologizes for how things went for Olivia. Leila tells him that none of it is his fault, and he asks if she’s mad at him for apologizing. She tells him she wants him to stop absorbing the world’s problems as his own, pointing out that he’s getting worked up over the game.

 

Spencer tells her she doesn’t understand, explaining that the game isn’t just a game to people in Crenshaw. He makes a comment about how Beverly people can go back to their rich lives if they lose, but that Crenshaw people can’t do that. Leila gets mad at him, telling him that he should talk to someone who doesn’t have a rich life. Spencer tries to apologize, but she suggests that their differences don’t make them special after all.

 

Coop teases Spencer for how he handled things with Leila, as he helps her pack her stuff. He asks if she’s heard anything about Tyrone, and she tells him she hasn’t. Coop answers the door, and she tells Spencer to go to the game, promising she’ll be there. She tells him she loves him, and Spencer tells her he loves her too. Malik tells Coop that Tyrone apartment has been cleared out, and that he’s been laying low. She tells him to tell her when he hears from Tyrone again.

 

Jordan tells Spencer he knows playing Crenshaw isn’t easy for him, and Spencer replies that he’s ready to win. Spencer tells Jordan that he sees him as a brother, and that their parents’ mistakes aren’t theirs. They embrace, and Spencer advises Jordan to not let his anger at Billy take over his game. Billy tells Laura that he’s going to fight to get back what he’s lost, telling her he loves them. Laura tells him she loved the man she exchanged vows with, but he lost that man along the way and advises him to find him again.

 

Billy tells the team that the game will take everything they have, telling them their full effort will win them the championship. He tells them nothing else matters until the whistle blows and the team is introduced onto the field. Spencer runs onto the field and takes in the Beverly and Crenshaw crowds as he joins the team. The game gets underway, and the game is relatively close.

 

Chris drops the ball on Spencer after knocking him down, declaring Beverly has made him soft. Jordan breaks up the argument, urging Spencer to not let Chris get in his head. Billy urges him to ease up, warning him that he needs to put his energy into winning the game. He questions if he needs to bench him for a couple of plays, but Spencer reminds him they need to win.

 

Spencer tackles Chris on the next play, but Chris doesn’t get back up. Spencer rushes to him, and Chris declares he can’t feel his legs. Chris is taken away on a stretcher and gives a thumbs up to the crowd as he’s loaded into the ambulance. Billy reports Chris had regained some of the feeling in his legs and tells Spencer that they still have a game to win as he goes over to Chris. Corey finds Spencer in the locker room, and Spencer declares he can’t do this. Corey gives him a necklace, telling him that Chris gave it to him and told him to tell Spencer that he deserves to wear it.

 

Corey assures Spencer it was a clean hit and reminds him of how happy he was when he first picked up a football. He tells Spencer that he used to play for his love of the game, and comments that he it was clear at his first game. Spencer asks how he knows if he wasn’t there, and Corey tells him he was. Spencer asks why he’s telling him now, and Corey tells him he needs to find his way back to the joy of the game. Spencer breaks down and Corey embraces him as Grace eavesdrops on the conversation.

 

Spencer and Corey return to the field, and Spencer asks Billy to put him back in the game, promising that his head is back in it. Billy sees Corey encouraging nod, and Spencer declares he wants to play the game he loves. Spencer begs to finish the game, and Billy agrees. Coop gets a text from Malik asking to meet outside the stadium, and Coop texts back that she’s going to the bathroom first.

 

Spencer returns to the game and scores a touchdown as Tyrone approaches Coop in the bathroom. Tyrone comments that Coop put her faith in the wrong people, but Coop points out he took out the people she put her faith in. He tells her he was doing what had to be done and tells her she’s alone because she’s weak. Tyrone points his gun at her as Spencer makes a tackle on defense.

 

Coop tells Tyrone that she’s not weak or alone as two plainclothes cops (Justin Skinner and Janeshia Adams-Ginyard) burst into the bathroom to arrest Tyrone. She explains that she set up a trap to lure him as he’s taken away. Reggie embraces Coop, declaring that it’s over now. Laura checks on her, and Coop tells her she’s okay.

 

The game comes down to a field goal, but Spencer blocks the kick and recovers the ball to return it for a touchdown and clinch Beverly’s win. Beverly celebrates and Spencer gestures to Grace in the stands. Billy watches as Laura congratulates Jordan and Spencer and Corey gesture to each other before Spencer and Billy acknowledge each other.

 

Billy writes a letter and Jordan asks him if the championship was worth it, as he sacrificed his family, illegally recruited Spencer, and falsified a drug test to achieve it. Jordan tells him he doesn’t want to be like him, and Billy tells him everything he did was for their family. Billy admits that the only way to get them back is to go back to the beginning and figure out what went wrong. Jordan looks at the letter on Billy’s desk after he leaves, seeing it’s a letter of resignation.

 

Spencer tries to apologize to Leila for their fight earlier, but she tells him no apology is necessary. She admits she’s been going through a lot, and she admits it’s about more than Olivia. He asks what she means, but the conversation is interrupted by Grace, Dillon, and Corey coming home to celebrate. Leila tells Spencer to stay with his family, promising they can finish their conversation in the morning. She promises she’ll be okay and kisses him goodbye.

 

Billy goes to stay with Grandpa Willy (Brent Jennings). Leila breaks down at her house, destroying the items inside. Olivia comes in and embraces Leila as she sobs. Spencer, Dillon, Grace, and Corey play games together and Corey follows Spencer to the kitchen. Spencer thanks him for getting him through the game, and Corey tells him that he’s been offered a job as Crenshaw’s new coach.

 

Corey asks Spencer to play for him but tells him to take time to make the decision. Grace checks on them and asks Corey if he really did go to Spencer’s first game after Spencer leaves the kitchen. Corey confirms he did, and Grace asks why he didn’t tell them. Corey admits he would have had to finally ask whether Dillon was his son or Billy’s.