The Indianapolis airport scene was unlike anything they'd experienced before. As the Flight Boys made their way through security, people were constantly approaching Tristain for pictures.
"Excuse me, are you Tristain Dyce?" a middle-aged woman asked, her teenage daughter hiding behind her nervously.
"Yes ma'am," Tristain replied politely.
"My son's been following your story since Chicago. Could he get a picture?"
"Of course," Tristain said, crouching down to the boy's level. "What's your name?"
"Jean," he said quietly. "I play quarterback too. B team."
"Keep working hard, Jean. Six years ago I was on JV too."
The picture took thirty seconds, but it created a domino effect. Soon there was a small crowd forming, with people taking pictures and asking for autographs.
"Yo, T," Marcus called out. "We're gonna miss our flight if this keeps up."
"Just a few more," Tristain said, but Coach Taylor stepped in.
"Alright folks, we appreciate the support, but we need to get to our gate," he announced diplomatically.
As they walked to their gate, Tristain's phone buzzed with a call from Coach Milton.
"What's up, Coach?"
"I got some news that's gonna blow your mind," Milton said with barely contained excitement. "Netflix wants to do a documentary series about our program."
"Netflix?" Tristain stopped walking.
"Like Last Chance U, but for high school. They want to follow North Bridgeton football through the entire next season - practice, games, recruiting, team dynamics, everything."
"That's insane," Tristain said, his teammates gathering around him.
"They're calling it 'Flight Path' - following North Bridgeton football from small town Indiana to national prominence. The whole program, not just you guys. They want to show how a small school can compete with the big dogs."
"When do they want to start?"
"Next week. They want to document our summer workouts, the incoming freshmen, your recruiting process, team chemistry. They're flying out a crew as soon as we get back from Tampa."
Marcus grabbed the phone. "Coach, this is Marcus. Are you serious about Netflix?"
"Dead serious. They saw the numbers from your social media, the ESPN coverage, the national tournament announcement. But they're interested in the whole story - how a program transforms, how a community rallies around a team."
"Holy shit," Deshawn said. "We're gonna be on Netflix?"
"Language," Coach Milton said, but he was laughing. "But yeah, if we agree to it. They want full access - freshman practices, varsity games, team meetings, everything."
"The whole program?" Elijah asked.
"The whole program. They want to show what happens when a small school suddenly has championship expectations."
"We're definitely agreeing to it," Terrell said immediately.
"Let's talk about it after Tampa," Milton said. "Right now, focus on defending your title."
----
As soon as they hung up, word started spreading on social media. Someone had overheard the conversation and posted about it.
@NFLUpdate: "BREAKING: Netflix reportedly in talks to document North Bridgeton football program starring Flight Boys quarterback Tristain Dyce. 'Flight Path' series would follow the entire program through next season."
The responses were immediate and divided:
@CollegeFootballFan: "Netflix really bout to make these high school kids even more famous 🔥"
@SkepticalSports: "One good tournament and now they getting documentaries? Let's see if they can do it again first"
@FlightBoysNation: "NETFLIX ABOUT TO SHOW THE WORLD WHAT WE BEEN KNOWING 🚀"
@RealistCheck: "They haven't even won Tampa yet and already getting TV deals? Cart before the horse much?"
@TristainDyce: "Netflix interested in documenting our PROGRAM 🎬 Not just the Flight Boys but the whole North Bridgeton family. Blessed to represent our school and community 🙏"
The post got 400K likes and 80K comments within an hour:
"Can't wait to see behind the scenes!"
"Y'all better win Tampa first before talking about Netflix"
"Small town to the big time! Let's go!"
"Prove you're not a one-hit wonder first"
"This team is special. Netflix sees it"
"Too much hype too fast. We'll see"
----
Once they were settled on the plane, the Flight Boys' true personalities came out. The combination of excitement, nerves, and being away from adult supervision created the perfect storm of teenage comedy.
"Yo, flight attendant!" Deshawn called out way too loudly. "Can I get some peanuts?"
"Sir, we don't serve peanuts," the flight attendant replied patiently.
"What about pretzels?"
"We'll serve snacks once we're in the air."
"Bro, chill," Marcus said, laughing. "You're embarrassing us."
"I'm hungry as fuck," Deshawn defended himself. "I didn't eat breakfast."
"You literally ate three breakfast sandwiches at the airport," Jaylen pointed out.
"That was like an hour ago!"
Tristain was trying to sleep, but the conversation was too entertaining to ignore.
"T, you nervous about Tampa?" Carlos asked.
"Nah, I'm excited," Tristain replied. "We proved we can win at this level. Time to do it again."
"But this time everyone knows who we are," Terrell pointed out. "No more sneaking up on people."
"Good," Elijah said. "Let them know we're coming. We'll beat them anyway."
"Y'all are so confident," Jaylen said. "What if we lose?"
"We're not losing," Marcus said firmly. "We didn't come this far to lose to some random ass teams."
"Random ass teams?" Deshawn laughed. "Bro, we're playing IMG Academy and Bishop Gorman. Those aren't random ass teams."
"They're still teams," Marcus shrugged. "And teams can be beat."
"That's the dumbest logic I've ever heard," Carlos said.
"Your face is dumb logic," Marcus shot back.
"That doesn't even make sense," Terrell joined in.
"Your mom doesn't make sense," Marcus replied.
"Bro, you're an idiot," everyone said in unison.
"Y'all are just jealous of my intellectual capacity," Marcus said dramatically.
"Intellectual capacity?" Elijah nearly choked on his drink. "You failed the history final!"
"I did not fail! I got a D-minus!"
"A D-minus is basically failing," Jaylen pointed out.
"D-minus is still passing, bitch!"
"Barely passing," Deshawn added.
"Passing is passing!"
Tristain was cracking up watching his teammates roast Marcus. "Bro, just take the L and move on."
"I'm not taking no L! Y'all are haters!"
"We're not haters, we're truth-tellers," Carlos said.
"Truth-tellers?" Marcus made a face. "That's not even a real word."
"It is now," Terrell said. "I'm adding it to the dictionary."
"You can't add words to the dictionary," Elijah said.
"Watch me," Terrell replied confidently.
"You're all fucking idiots," Jaylen said, shaking his head.
"Language," Coach Taylor called from three rows up without turning around.
"Sorry Coach!" they all said in unison.
The flight attendant approached their section with a slightly overwhelmed expression.
"Gentlemen, I'm going to need you to keep the volume down. Other passengers are trying to rest."
"Sorry ma'am," Tristain said, being the responsible one. "We'll keep it down."
"Thank you."
As soon as she walked away, Deshawn whispered loudly, "She's just mad she can't handle our energy."
"Our energy?" Marcus whispered back. "Bro, you're just loud."
"I'm passionate!"
"You're annoying," Elijah whispered.
"Y'all are just mad I'm the life of the party," Deshawn said.
"What party?" Carlos asked. "We're on a plane."
"The airplane party!"
"That's not a thing," Jaylen said.
"It is now," Deshawn declared.
"You can't just make things up," Terrell pointed out.
"I can and I will."
Tristain put his headphones on, but he was smiling. These were his brothers, and their stupidity was exactly what he needed to stay relaxed.
---
Landing in Tampa brought another wave of recognition. The airport was busy with tourists and business travelers, but several people recognized the Flight Boys immediately.
"Oh my god, that's the team from Netflix!" someone yelled.
"We're not on Netflix yet," Marcus corrected.
"But you're the tournament winners!" another person said.
"That's us," Elijah confirmed.
More pictures, more autographs, more people asking about their recruiting and college plans. Tristain handled it all with grace, but his teammates could see he was getting tired of the attention.
"Bro, you're like actually famous now," Deshawn said as they waited for their luggage.
"It's weird," Tristain admitted. "Sometimes I miss when nobody knew who I was."
"The price of greatness," Jaylen said dramatically.
"Shut up," Tristain laughed.
Tournament Format Announcement
The team dinner was held at a high-end steakhouse in downtown Tampa, with all 32 teams present. The atmosphere was electric, with some of the best high school football talent in the country gathered in one place.
Tournament director Mike Patterson took the stage after dinner to announce the format.
"Gentlemen, welcome to the Tampa Elite 7v7 Championship. This year's format is going to be unlike anything you've experienced before."
He pulled up a large screen showing the tournament bracket.
"We have 32 teams divided into 8 groups of 4 teams each. Round-robin group stage play over the first two days - that's 3 games per team to determine group winners."
The teams were listening intently, strategizing as he spoke.
"The 8 group winners will be seeded 1-8 based on point differential and overall performance. Then we move to single-elimination tournament play."
He clicked to the next slide.
"But here's the twist - the quarterfinals and semifinals will be best-of-three series. Not single games. You have to beat a team twice to advance."
"Best of three?" Marcus whispered. "That's different."
"The championship game will be a single winner-take-all game, but to get there, you have to prove you're consistently better than your opponents."
Patterson continued explaining the tie-breaking procedures, the scheduling, and the prize structure.
"First place takes home $50,000 for their program, plus individual awards for tournament MVP, top receiver, and top defensive player."
"Fifty thousand?" Deshawn's eyes went wide.
"Plus," Patterson added with a smile, "ESPN will be broadcasting the semifinals and championship game live. This is your chance to perform on the biggest stage high school football has to offer."
After the announcement, the Flight Boys huddled together.
"Best of three series," Coach Taylor said. "That means we can't have any off games. Consistency is key."
"We got this," Tristain said confidently. "We're the most consistent team here."
"Facts," the team agreed.
"Group stage should be easy," Elijah said. "Real competition starts in the elimination rounds."
"Every game matters," Coach Taylor reminded them. "Seeding determines who we play and when. We want that #1 seed."
----
Back at the hotel, the Flight Boys had their usual routine of commandeering Tristain and Marcus's room for gaming and bonding.
"Alright, who's setting up the PS5?" Deshawn asked, carrying controllers.
"I got it," Terrell said, already hooking up cables to the hotel TV.
"Please tell me y'all brought good games," Carlos said.
"Naruto Ninja Storm, Madden, and some racing game," Jaylen replied. "The essentials."
"Ninja Storm?" Marcus's eyes lit up. "Oh, it's about to be a problem."
"Y'all know I'm nice with the jutsu," Elijah said, cracking his knuckles.
As they got settled in, the conversation turned to the tournament, but the gaming started immediately.
"Alright, who wants to get bodied first?" Tristain said, grabbing a controller.
"Bodied?" Deshawn laughed. "I'm about to show you some real ninja skills."
"Pick your character," Marcus said, scrolling through the roster.
"I'm going with Naruto," Tristain said.
"Basic," Jaylen said. "I'm picking Minato."
"Yo, you're slimy for picking Minato!" Deshawn yelled. "That's cheap as hell!"
"Don't hate the player, hate the game," Jaylen replied.
"Nah, you're just trash so you need an OP character," Elijah said, selecting Sasuke.
"You picked all Uchihas!" Carlos pointed out, seeing Marcus select Itachi and Terrell pick Madara.
"Uchiha clan runs this shit," Marcus said confidently.
"We'll see," Tristain said. "Let's run it."
The first match was Tristain (Naruto) versus Jaylen (Minato). Within thirty seconds, Jaylen was already combo-ing him.
"Don't run from it!" Jaylen yelled as Tristain's character tried to back away. "Stand still and take this combo!"
"I'm not running, I'm strategically repositioning," Tristain said, but he was getting destroyed.
"ULTIMATE JUTSU!" Jaylen shouted, hitting his super move.
"Take this ultimate to the dome, buddy!" he said as Minato's Rasengan connected.
"That's so cheap!" Tristain complained as his health bar disappeared.
"Get good," Jaylen said simply.
Next match was Marcus (Itachi) versus Deshawn (Rock Lee).
"You really picked Rock Lee?" Marcus asked. "Against the Sharingan?"
"Taijutsu beats everything," Deshawn said confidently.
"We'll see."
The match was actually close until Marcus caught Deshawn in Itachi's genjutsu combo.
"Don't sleep tonight, buddy," Marcus said as he finished the combo. "Tsukuyomi got your ass."
"That's not even how genjutsu works!" Deshawn protested.
"It works in this game," Marcus replied.
"Your character is broken," Deshawn said.
"Your skills are broken," Marcus shot back.
Elijah was up next against Carlos, both using different versions of Sasuke.
"Sasuke versus Sasuke," Elijah said. "This is about to be philosophical."
"Less philosophy, more ass-whooping," Carlos replied.
The match was intense, with both players knowing the character's moves perfectly. It came down to the wire, with Elijah winning by a sliver of health.
"GG," Carlos said. "That was actually close."
"Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades," Elijah said.
"And ultimate jutsus," Terrell added.
"Speaking of ultimate jutsus," Jaylen said, "who wants to see me body Marcus?"
"You mean who wants to see you get exposed?" Marcus corrected.
"Run it then."
The Marcus versus Jaylen match was the most intense yet. Marcus's Itachi versus Jaylen's Minato, both characters known for being cheesy.
"Stop running!" Marcus yelled as Jaylen kept using Minato's teleportation.
"I'm not running, I'm being tactical," Jaylen said.
"That's the same thing Tristain said when he was losing," Deshawn pointed out.
"Shut up and watch me work," Jaylen said.
The match went to the final round, with both players on low health. Marcus tried to land Itachi's ultimate, but Jaylen dodged it and punished with Minato's Rasengan.
"Take this ultimate to the dome, buddy!" Jaylen repeated as he won.
"I'm about to break this controller," Marcus said, but he was laughing.
"Don't break hotel property," Terrell said. "We already got enough attention."
"Speaking of attention," Carlos said, "y'all see the Netflix reactions?"
"Some people are hyped, some people think we're overrated," Tristain said, checking his phone.
"They'll see," Elijah said. "Tomorrow we start proving we're not a fluke."
"Facts," Marcus agreed. "But first, who wants to see me get revenge on Jaylen?"
"Round two?" Jaylen grinned. "Don't run from it."
"I'm not running from nothing," Marcus said, picking a different character.
"You picked all Uchihas again!" everyone yelled.
"Uchiha clan is the best clan!" Marcus defended.
"That's debatable," Deshawn said.
"Your face is debatable," Marcus shot back.
"Y'all need to stop with the 'your face' jokes," Terrell said. "They're not funny."
"Your face isn't funny," Deshawn said.
"I'm gonna start throwing hands," Terrell threatened.
"Throw hands at this Ninja Storm game," Elijah said, handing him a controller.
"Bet. I'm about to show y'all some real jutsu."
"We'll see," Tristain said, grabbing his own controller.
"ULTIMATE JUTSU!" someone yelled immediately.
"That wasn't even an ultimate!" another voice protested.
"It was an ultimate in my heart!"
"Your heart doesn't know jutsu!"
Coach Taylor knocked on the door. "Lights out in two hours, gentlemen. Group stage starts tomorrow at 10 AM."
"Yes sir!" they all responded.
"And try to get some actual sleep. You're gonna need it."
After he left, the room was quiet for about thirty seconds.
"Alright," Marcus said. "Who wants to get absolutely destroyed in Ninja Storm?"
"You mean who wants to destroy you?" Deshawn corrected.
"Keep that same energy when I'm hitting ultimate jutsus," Marcus said.
"Ultimate jutsus? You can't even land regular combos," Jaylen said.
"I can land them, I just choose not to."
"That's the worst excuse I've ever heard," Elijah said.
"Y'all are ridiculous," Tristain said, but he was smiling.
As they settled in for their gaming session, Tristain felt that familiar calm before the storm. Tomorrow they'd start their title defense, facing some of the best competition high school football had to offer.
Group stage, then best-of-three series. Different format, same goal. Time to show Tampa why we're the defending champions.
The Flight Boys were ready to prove that Chicago wasn't a fluke. They were ready to show the world that they belonged at the top.
Let's fucking go.