Tough season ends for Wildcats

November 12, 2007

By Jeremy Wise

On Friday night, there were tears, hugs and handshakes on the Bates Memorial Stadium field.
Sadly, those were tears of loss and hugs and handshakes of condolences.
It was from a team that already knew the sting of pain from loss, moreso than possibly any other team in the area in a long time.
The sights were from the opening round playoff loss the Enterprise Wildcats suffered. The loss concluded a season of hardship that showed the true test of a community, of a school and of about 100 15- to 18-year-old boys.
For the team, the start of the season was mired in adjustments: adjustments to new locker room facilities, adjustments to a new school schedule and adjustments to a new practice schedule.
Of course, these adjustments were among many of the changes the Wildcats had to go through since they lost their home, Enterprise High School, and eight classmates in a March 1 tornado.
A typical day for a football player on this new schedule was to arrive at the Enteprrise-Ozark Community College campus for breakfast at about 8 a.m. You see, at EOCC, there are no lunchroom facilities, and the only chance for food in a given school day is a sack lunch given out in the lobby of Lolley Gymnasium.
It’s hard to go to school and endure a greuling practice without a good meal in your belly.
After breakfast, players watched film in one of a few portable classrooms that became their home this fall.
After film, the players had about an hour to prepare for school, and they would attend class from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on most days.
Then came practice, a new set of hardships since they had to change into pads and uniforms in portable classrooms or locker room facilieties in Lolley Gymnasium.
Toward the end of the season, the players had to ride a bus to practice since the field at EOCC had no lighting.
They did this with the thoughts of March 1 weighing on their minds. They did this while preparing and playing a tough 6A schedule.
They overcame off the field, and they overcame on it.
Three times, the ‘Cats rallied from trailing in the fourth quarter to win. Once, they did it on a field goal from Parker Stinnett as time expired.
It was as if the ‘Cats had not proved they had enough heart.
To top it, the Wildcats also lost two heartbreakers on the road, including a double-overtime loss to Smiths Station.
In all, five of the Wildcats’ 11 games were decided by one score or less.
But the ‘Cats kept on playing, right until the final horn.
Wildcats’ head coach Kevin Collins said the players never complained once. He also said that the community should be proud of them.
Judging by the crowds at every home game, including after thunderstorms in the first two games, I believe they are.
I know I am.

Prep football first round playoffs

November 11, 2007

By Jon Johnson

We lost a bunch of area teams in the first round of the football playoffs, but I believe the ones that remain can keep making some noise.
Cottonwood continues to really impress in Class 2A, and I believe will keep on rolling at Georgiana this Friday.
Wicksburg showed a lot of grit coming from behind to beat Hale County. The Panthers took another tough blow on the injury side when Jon Unterkofler suffered what is believed to be a season-ending knee injury in the fourth quarter. He led the team with 12 tackles in Friday’s game.
Eufaula and Pike County won easily, and here’s believing Pike County will make another run at the 3A title.
And how about Charles Henderson and Andalusia rolling right along?
Sad to see Enterprise being eliminated, but the Wildcats can certainly be proud of their accomplishments in what’s been a trying year.
While much of the focus will be on the football playoffs this week, don’t forget that basketball season is beginning to crank up.
Hope you will get out and support the area high school basketball programs.

Propst keeps popping up

November 01, 2007

By Andy Brown

It seems everywhere you turn there he is.
The man whose mug was made famous thanks to MTV’s “Two-A-Days” now has his face plastered on the pages of newspapers ranging from The Birmingham News to USA Today, and yes, even the weekend edition of the Eufaula Tribune.
He is of course, Rush Propst.
So why is his face gracing the pages of so many papers? Well, On Tuesday, the Hoover head coach tendered his resignation to the Hoover school board under an agreement approved unanimously by the Hoover school board that will allow the Propst to coach the Bucs through the playoffs.
Following the conclusion of the Bucs’ playoff run, Propst, who spent three years coaching at Eufaula in the mid-1990s, will be transferred to an administrative assistant job until his resignation takes effect on Aug. 31. His duties will be determined by Superintendent Andy Craig and his pay will remain at $100,678.
Under the agreement, the school board is also required to pay the coach a $120,000 annuity by Aug. 31 and provide for the transfer of one year of service from the Georgia Retirement System to the Alabama Retirement System. The value of that transfer is stated to be about $21,000.
For more on what led to Propst being ousted by the Hoover school system check out USA Today or The Birmingham News.

A different view of the coach

In talking with a handful of people who knew Propst during his time in the Bluff City, I learned a few things.
One, even then, as the coach of a team that posted just one winning season in three years, Propst was a big personality.
“When I watched Two-A-Days I saw a lot of similarities in the way he did things (at Hoover and Eufaula),” Tom Clements, a three-year starter for Propst at quarterback, said. “He was just as big a character and personality then.”
Two, despite how’s he’s perceived by those outside the football world, he still commands a great deal of respect and loyalty from many of his former players.
“I think he’s a great man,” David Hill, a three-year starter at wide receiver for Propst, said. “I still have a lot of respect for him, and in some ways I owe some of the successes I have had in life to the things he taught me while I played for him.”
And finally, no one is as good or bad as they seem.
For an outsider, Propst is easy to dislike. From the “ding” comment on “Two-A-Days” to allegations of cheating to win games, it’s easy to make the coach into a monster.
But talk with his former players and coaches and even members of the media that covered him and his teams and you’ll see that while he certainly had some flaws – and don’t we all – he could also be likeable.
“We would spend an hour or so in his office after the games talking about what happened,” Jack Smith, former managing editor of the Eufaula Tribune, said. “Win or lose, he was always the same to me and always treated me with respect.”

Clements remembers encounter with Propst

Lakeside offensive coordinator and former Eufaula standout Tom Clements remembers well one of his first encounters with Rush Propst.
It was 1994, Clements’ sophomore year and Propst first year at the helm of the Eufaula program.
Propst called Clements, the team’s quarterback, along with wide receivers and fellow sophomores David Hill and Yeasive Ware into his office.
“He told us that everyone was saying Eufaula couldn’t throw the ball, and that we were going to be the group that proved Eufaula could throw the ball,” Clements said.
Over the next three seasons, we passed for 4,286 yards.
“Everyone said we couldn’t do it, but he believed we could and he made us believe we could,” Clements said.
Propst also helped turn around a program that had fallen on hard times. Clements’ freshman year the Tigers posted a 3-7 record.
After a 3-7 season and a 5-5 season, Propst led the Tigers to a 10-2 season and the second round of the playoffs.
“He helped bring it back,” Clements said. “Before he came here we weren’t exactly tearing it up with success, but that was the group that kind of got things back on track.”