Football is easily the most popular sport in the country. (Sorry, baseball.) The sport easily engages fans on the field as much as it entertains them with powerful stories on the big screen. From professional football films like Any Given Sunday and Jerry Maguire to college football like the beloved Notre Dame film Rudy, you get inspired watching the team come together. Even Adam Sandler's The Waterboy gets audiences excited to follow the game. There's just something about getting invested in rooting for your team, watching the underdog pull through, or seeing a dramatic game come to a thrilling conclusion. Whether in person or on screen, you get sucked in.
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While there are some well-known football movies following the professional level, which is certainly admirable, high school football is equally full of heroes and powerful stories, so it's no wonder the great all-American sport has its fair share of popular films on the big screen. Down in the south, high school football games take over Friday nights in the fall, but people all over the country appreciate the sport and the stories that have been told surrounding teen athletes playing for their high school teams.
Here are our 10 favorite high school football movies of all time.
Wildcats
IMDB/Warner Bros.
Goldie Hawn stars at Molly McGrath who lands her dream job as the new coach for an inner-city football team. The film follows her and the team as they fight to win their final game.
All the Right Moves
IMDB/20th Century Fox
Tom Cruise stars as Stefan Djordjevic and the football star of his team. What happens when he gets kicked off the team when all he wants to do is get out of his tiny town with a football scholarship?
Radio
IMDB/Columbia Pictures
This tearjerker follows Cuba Gooding Jr. as a high schooler with intellectual disabilities who befriends his school's football coach and gets to become an important part of the team.
Go Tigers!
IMDB/IFC Films
This documentary follows the real-life team, the Massillon Tigers, throughout a football season in their town in Ohio. The football program is very important to the town, and it puts pressure on the stars of the team.
Varsity Blues
IMDB/MTV Productions
This classic football film starring James Van Der Beek (aka Dawson from Dawson's Creek) follows the underdog quarterback who finally gets his chance to shine on his Texas football team.
23 Blast
IMDB/Ocean Avenue Entertainment
Some of these stories are more powerful when you know they really happened. 23 Blast follows the true story of Travis Freeman, a high schooler who becomes blind and continues to play the sport he loves.
Undefeated
IMDB/The Weinstein Company
This Oscar-winning documentary follows a North Carolina football team who had a 110-year losing streak that was turned around by coach Bill Courtney.
The Blind Side
IMDB/Alcon Entertainment
Who could forget the movie that gave Sandra Bullock her Oscar? This true story follows Michael Oher, who becomes a football player after being taken in by Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy.
Remember the Titans
IMDB/Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
One of the all-time best football movies or sports movies ever made, Remember the Titans tells the story of an African American football coach played by Denzel Washington. While race seems to be an issue for players at the beginning of the film, Washington brings them together in this powerful Disney film.
Friday Night Lights
IMDB/Universal Pictures
This classic film that inspired the popular TV show of the same name follows a high school football team in a small town in Texas after their star quarterback is injured. Plus high school football finals are basically the NFL Super Bowl in this town, so the stakes are high.
