Last year, the School District of Philadelphia, facing a shortfall of more than $300 million, instituted a “doomsday” budget that ultimately closed 24 schools. Those included the 99-year-old Germantown High School, whose students would attend Martin Luther King High, its former bitter rival.

“We Could Be King” tracks the efforts to combine the schools’ football teams, in spite of the lack of funds. Led by Ed Dunn, a 27-year-old laid-off Germantown math teacher who becomes the volunteer head coach, the King Cougars must first learn how to play together, then try to turn around a program whose only win in two years was a forfeit.

“He’s your brother, pull him up, don’t pull him down,” Mr. Dunn exhorts time and again, as players clash at practices.

Directed by Judd Ehrlich, “King” has a memorable season’s worth of moving stories to tell on and off the field, as rich as any in “Friday Night Lights.” Most Cougar players come from turbulent, impoverished backgrounds: Dontae Angus, a huge defensive tackle, hopes to get a scholarship to the University of Florida; Sal Henderson, a talented safety and team leader, runs into trouble with the law and misses several games.