In September, we published a story that posed a long-pondered question: Can a team from South Georgia win a championship again in the state’s highest classification? As I wrote the story, not only did I feel like the answer to the question was a resounding yes, but I also had the eventual winner in mind: the Colquitt County Packers. I certainly wasn’t the only one who thought Colquitt would win a championship this year. And given the past track record of the Rush Propst-led Packers, it was an altogether safe bet. But those factors didn’t influence my prediction.
Yes, I am well aware of Colquitt’s recent success. After Propst’s first year, a 4-6 finish, the Packers have made it to the semifinals four times and the finals once. In each trip to the semis, Colquitt lost to the eventual state champion. Throughout their run, however, a title has eluded them. In 2010, a 5-5 regular season team faced Brookwood in the championship game. Despite hanging 38 points on their opponents, the Packers lost by two touchdowns.
The success of the past, however, doesn’t guarantee success in the present. I didn’t think Colquitt would win it all this year because of all those deep playoff runs. If anything, all that meant was that Colquitt would indeed make another impressive trip through the postseason, only to fall short once again in the late rounds. Instead, I felt as though the Packers would win because of the confidence I detected in Coach Propst’s voice during our preseason interviews.
After I spoke with Propst in 2013, I didn’t feel like he honestly thought his team would win a title. He didn’t have enough seniors (more on this later), and he seemed to express that once again, the metro area schools had him outgunned. He told me his team had a chance, and they were going to play as hard as they could. He and his coaches would put in the hours required to prepare the Packers. But I detected a little hesitation in his voice.
This year, however, Propst was different. When we spoke, he was confident. I could tell he felt as though 2014 was the Pack’s year. “I think that’s about right,” he said when we spoke again just days after winning the championship. “I felt good about this year’s team. They had that ‘it’ factor that you can’t coach. They simply weren’t going to be denied.”
The formula. Coach Propst has a formula he uses to gauge the health of his program. I’m sure there’s much more to his 
formula than what he shares with me, but from what I’ve picked up talking with him, it’s a combination of overall numbers in the program along with the total number of seniors on the team. Propst has always said that he felt as though he needed at least 32 seniors to win a state championship in the highest classification. At Hoover High School (Hoover, Ala.), where he won five state titles, he never had fewer than 33. Last year, Colquitt dressed 18 seniors in the semifinal game. This year, despite the fact that he had just under 30, he thought the pieces were in place to win a title.
Metro-Atlanta area schools typically have more than 40 seniors. During the title game this year, Colquitt dressed 26. Archer had nearly 40. Despite having fewer seniors than expected, the Packers were able to make up for the discrepancy and win in spite of the odds.
“Yeah we had fewer than I predicted; Archer had a bunch. But the make-up of this team was of such quality, and they wanted it so badly. When this team set a goal, they weren’t going to stop until they achieved it. They didn’t do much yakking. They let it show with their actions,” Propst said.
Family. It’s a word you hear often in football circles. Teams want to develop a family atmosphere, where everyone gets along and works toward a common goal. Propst and the Packers, however, take the idea of family one step further. For Propst, his wife Stefnie, and their children, the team is their family.
“I’ve always thought of my teams as my family, but it’s even more so down here,” Coach Propst said. Stefnie feeds the players. She has become the team’s matriarch, if you will. During the postgame interviews on the field of the Georgia Dome after the title game, when she spoke of the team’s success, she didn’t say “they,” “them,” and “theirs.” Her descriptors were “we,” “us,” and “our.” Clearly, she is a part of Colquitt’s success, and she looks upon the players as an extension of her household.
Speaking of the Propst household, their doors are open to the players at any time. If a player needs a place to stay, there is always room at Coach’s house. “My home is always open. A lot of players come by. Some spend the night. As Christian people, we are supposed to open our homes to the needy. And some of our players fall into that category,” he said.
Family is something that means more to Coach Propst these days than it has in years past. During his famous run at Hoover, Propst never took the time to enjoy the championships. Each year he won, he would turn around immediately and focus on the next one. He wouldn’t pause, let it sink in, or enjoy the moment. That goes for him as well as his players. As I was sitting in Colquitt’s field house waiting to speak with Propst, several players were milling about. The state championship trophy, which is a rather non-descript and unassuming piece of hardware for the significance it carries, sat on top of the trophy case. The players were looking at the trophy and talking about the title.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet,” one player said. “I still can’t believe it happened.” Coach Propst wants to make sure that the title has a chance to sink in, and he wants everyone – he, his family, the players, and the community – to enjoy it.
Cancer. It’s not there anymore but it’s an ever-present specter hovering over everything Rush Propst does. During the 2010 season, the year Colquitt went to the finals, he began experiencing discomfort in his throat. Thinking it was any one of a number of ailments that could affect a football coach’s vocal chords during the season, he attempted to treat it as best as he could. The stress of a 5-5 regular season campaign didn’t help matters, either. When a knot appeared in his throat late in the season, he knew something was badly amiss. Still, because of the Packers’ playoff run, he put off further treatment until after the season ended. When he finally received his diagnosis, he heard what may be the most feared word in the English lexicon: Cancer.
Propst began treatment immediately. But treating his disease meant that he was away from his team. Still, he had to get healthy if he even wanted to be around to see his team play in 2011. The cancer responded well to the treatments and, despite losing a significant amount of weight and enduring some very dark days during the winter of 2010 and spring of 2011, Propst beat the disease.
“Cancer made me appreciate life and family even more,” he said. “It changed me in a lot of ways. It made more conscientious of things and more caring toward my fellow man. I don’t take life for granted anymore.”
Two days after I spoke with Propst, he was going to Birmingham for a routine cancer screening. It’s been 43 months since his diagnosis. Now, he is in the 90th survival-rate percentile. But that doesn’t mean it can’t come back. And it doesn’t mean that Propst rests easy on the eve of his screenings.
“You always get nervous before a screening. You hear about people whose cancer returns. Everything can be taken from you so quickly,” he said.
This sixth championship is his first post-cancer title. As he talks about its significance, he echoes what he said earlier.
“I want to enjoy this championship. My parents died of cancer at 69 and 71. I felt like they lost a lot of time with us. That’s why I was so scared. I want to enjoy my family.”
The game. We haven’t said much about the game or the season itself. Fifteen wins. No losses. A scoring average of almost 46 points per game. A three-touchdown win over Hoover in Moultrie. With the exception of a surprising fight put up by Camden County, no region opponent even came close. Colquitt won the region fairly easily but refused to spend much time thinking about it.
“Winning the region was about playoff seeding. We didn’t celebrate the region title much. I wouldn’t allow it. There are only six teams in the region anyway. We were playing for a state title,” Coach Propst said.
In the playoffs, home field advantage was crucial. During all of the Packers’ past playoff runs, they were never able to welcome all of their opponents to Moultrie. The best Colquitt had done was last year, when they hosted one postseason game. This year, they played four straight home playoff games. In two of those games, Colquitt trailed at the half and looked very vulnerable. The second half, however, was a different story. “Our team never got discouraged. They were a nearly perfect team to coach,” he said.
In the finals, Propst expected a fairly low scoring game. “We both had good defenses. In a big game like that, I knew point production would be down. I thought we could win if we scored 31. I figured Archer would score between 17 and 27 points.”
In the first 10 minutes, Colquitt and Archer combined for four touchdowns. Propst thought the game might end up being a high scoring affair after all. But then things settled down.
“They were ready for us, and they were well coached,” said Propst of the Archer Tigers.
The difference in the game came down to turnovers. Both teams had two apiece, but the Packers turned theirs into points, while Archer failed to do so. Colquitt, which led 21-17 at the half, opened the third quarter by recovering an Archer fumble. That led to a short Colquitt drive capped by a seven-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Chase Parrish to Ty Lee to give the Pack a 28-17 lead. Archer would score one second-half touchdown of its own to get within four. Colquitt managed the closing minutes perfectly to secure the 28-24 victory. Running back Sihiem King, who ran for 125 yards and scored one touchdown (on a pass from Parrish in the first half), set Colquitt’s rushing record, and Parrish, who threw for three scores in the game, set the school record for touchdown passes.
The future. What does the future hold for Rush Propst and the Colquitt County Packers? For a coach like Propst, no doubt that opportunities are plentiful. However, he insists that he’s quite happy in Moultrie. After 30 years in coaching, he knows he doesn’t have an unlimited amount of time left.
“I figure I have anywhere from two to 10 years remaining. I love it here in Moultrie. I love my house, I love my family, and I love my job. That’s what Moultrie allows me to do – to enjoy my life more. I love living and working here,” he said. When asked about retiring, he just smirks a little. “Yeah, I could see myself finishing my career here.”
Special Feature/South Georgia/January 2015
Perfection: Colquitt County Wins State Title with 15-0 Record
Robert Preston Jr.
