L.A. CONFIDENTIAL.

Byline: - Doug Padilla 

Usually, the Angels' clubhouse television is tuned to a sports highlight show or afternoon baseball. On Saturday, about half of the team was watching the high-school football movie ``Friday Night Lights'' and John Lackey, a former high-school football standout in Texas, had a front-and-center seat.

After the movie, Lackey confirmed that the final high school game of his career at Abilene High School was against Permian, the school the movie revolves around. Lackey was the Abilene QB and he had a vivid recollection of the game. Lackey said the final score was something like 13-9 in a game to see who would qualify for the state playoffs. He said his team was going to get one last crack at a win, but a 90-yard Permian punt pinned down Abilene deep in its own territory. Lackey recalled he had just over a minute to operate and a scoring drive never materialized.