The focus on December 5 will be on the players, the staffs and the schools as Coosa Christian of Gadsden takes on Lanett in the state 2A championship game.
That’s as it should be.
In state news media, and some national media, there will be a secondary focus. Will Coosa Christian’s head Coach Rush Propst be able to make a comeback and win yet another state championship, nineteen years after falling from the top of high school football?
The game will be at 3 p.m. Friday, December 5 at Protective Stadium in North Birmingham.
A championship would mean the third coming of Propst. His first was as big as it gets — five state championships in the “big league” class 6A at Hoover High. 1999-2007. The Propst program at Hoover was so unusually good that it was featured in a nationwide MTV reality show, “Two-A-Days.”
After controversy with his personal life, Propst left.
A second coming took place at other high schools and in another state. Propst coached in Colquitt County and Valdosta, Georgia. At Colquitt County, he led the team to the Georgia state championship in 2018.
Propst came home to East Alabama, and in 2023, worked as Athletic Director and Associate Head Coach at Coosa Christian High. He left and took the head coaching job at nearby Pell City High School. One season and opposition from the Superintendent of Education, and he resigned.
Rush Propst talks resignation from Pell City: ‘I was tired of fighting’ – Yellowhammer News
Unexpectedly, it was back to Coosa Christian, which had suffered through a problem with an ineligible player. After the suspension of their head coach, Propst took the job under unusual circumstances.
He became the interim volunteer head coach in August 2025, after football practice had already started for the current season.
Can you imagine a volunteer interim head coach winning his way to the state championship game in one season? That’s exactly what The Conquerors of Coosa Christian accomplished this season, and their season is not over.
They have one more game to play, and it’s the big one.
Coosa Christian (12-2) defeated Pisgah 44-36 in a hard-fought 2A semi-final. The Conquerors came from 14 points down. Lanett defeated Reeltown 35-19 to earn their seat in the championship game.
With that degree of success, why did Propst want to take an “interim” head coaching job in August after practice had started and for no paycheck? He told the Gadsden Times:
“When you’re laying in bed at night or by yourself, and the Lord is working on your heart and mind and your spiritual part of what you are, I couldn’t turn my back on these kids or this program. I felt very strongly about that, and that’s the reason I’m doing this,” Propst said. “I feel like this is what the good Lord wanted me to do, and money was never a factor.”
It has been 19 years since Propst has played in a state championship game in Alabama.
There is yet another storyline for the Coosa Christian-Lanett game. Coosa Christian has a tenth-grader, Kylen Johnson, who gained over 300 yards and scored all six of the team’s touchdowns in their semi-final win.
College scouts have started coming to watch the Class of 2028 student athlete.
An unusually large crowd for a high school game is expected Friday in Protective Stadium — Lanett fans, Coosa Christian fans, media covering Coach Rush Propst’s first championship game in Alabama in 19 years and college scouts covering Kylen Johnson.
Better get your tickets early.
Tickets can be purchased at the game or here.
Jim Zig Zeigler is a contributing writer for Yellowhammer News. His beat includes the positive and colorful about Alabama – her people, events, groups and prominent deaths. He is a former State Auditor and Public Service Commissioner. You can reach him at [email protected]
