Football in the Time of Katrina

The chronicler of a New Orleans high-school champion tells Gelf how the John Curtis Patriots helped heal their fans, their families, and themselves.

Carl Bialik

In a week when Kenny Dorsey is supposed to suit up for his high school's powerhouse football team, instead he's tuning in to CNN and logging on to Google Earth to check where, exactly, that Katrina-diverted 200-foot cargo barge has settled down after the levees flooded. He finds, to his horror, that the barge has come to rest on top of what was once his home.