Stand Against Fear

Stand Against Fear (also called Unlikely Suspects) is a 1996 American made-for-television drama film starring Sarah Chalke as a cheerleader who takes action when she faces sexual intimidation from football players at her school. The film is a part of the Moment of Truth franchise and aired on NBC on December 16, 1996. The film was based on a real-life incident, which occurred at Santa Clara High School in California. Plot Krista Wilson (Sarah Chalke) is a cheerleading captain at Centennial High School who, along with other members of her squad, is subjected to sexual harassment by members of her the varsity football team, particularly captain Josh Kelly (Munro) and his buddy Nelson Doyle. When Krista's best friend Ruth, boarding a football team bus to pass out bottled water, gets manhandled badly, Krista later finds out that most of the cheerleaders have been undergoing such treatment. She reports the incident to new coach Ron Peters, who lightly talks it over with Josh, but the team captain denies it all. Undeterred, Josh and Nelson continue their campaign of harassment. The pair corner Krista in the girls' locker room. Josh pushes her against the lockers while Nelson holds her hands above her head, allowing Josh to freely run his hands all over Krista until Ruth intervened. A terrified Krista tells her mother Anne (Shanna Reed), who is also a counselor at the school, what happened, and she brings it to the attention of both Coach Peters and principal Vicky Cooke. A meeting is later scheduled to address the accusations, but after Krista presents her story, Josh counters by claiming that her accusations were just a form of retaliation because he supposedly resisted advances Krista made towards him. Siding with the football team, Ms. Cooke and Coach Peters decide to suspend the cheerleading squad for the remainder of the year.