THOMASVILLE — Zach Grage freely admits how much he learned during his time with Rush Propst.

Grage’s Thomasville Bulldogs travel to Moultrie to take on Propst’s Colquitt County Packers and while the uniforms will be different, so much else will look eerily similar — maybe right down to what time and how Grage’s Bulldogs go through pre-game warmups.

“Rush has had a 100 percent effect on my career and how I do things,” Grage acknowledged.

Grage has taken what he learned from Propst, who won a handful of state championships in Alabama before coming to Colquitt, and put his own spin on things. It’s a mentality he hopes his own assistants take with them if they leave to become head coaches.

“As my staff grows and goes other places, hopefully they’ll take the bones of it and put their own spin on things,” Grage said.

From Propst, Grage took the elements in building a program, from bringing in own assistants and letting them do their work to not being afraid to enact change. Grage credits Propst for encouraging an attitude of “being innovative, being cutting edge and being ahead of your time,” he said.

Colquitt was one of the first high schools to start a nutrition program for its players, years ahead of its counterparts, Grage said. The Packers also are one of the first high school programs to have an indoor practice facility.

“He doesn’t treat Colquitt County like a high school program,” Grage said. “He wants to treat them like a college program.”

Propst also dispatched his assistants to various colleges — many of them in the Southeastern Conference — to see how those programs handled the details.

But they also went to places such as Baylor, Oregon and California to study their offenses.

“Being on that cutting edge and doing it in high school, that’s what he was big on,” Grage said. “That’s what we’re trying to do here.”

And Grage also learned from Propst that if you are going to do something, do it right and first class, he said.

Propst lauded his former assistant, praising Grage for his work while he was on the Packers’ staff.

“He instilled a lot more in me than I did in him,” Propst said. He was our organizer. He was our guy. And he had done it right.”

What Grage is doing and has accomplished at Thomasville has not escaped Propst’s eye.

“I think he’s done it right,” Propst said. “It’s a great fit. He’s done a wonderful job.”

Between his stop in Colquitt and coming to Thomasville, Grage was head coach at Gilmer County in north Georgia.

“When took the Gilmer job, I thought it was a brilliant move,” Propst said.

Grage spent six years as an assistant under Propst, who has compiled an enviable record at Colquitt County. The Packers have advanced to the semifinals or beyond in eight of the past nine seasons, including back-to-back state championships

“They’re the best program in the state of Georgia over the last 10 years,” Grage said, “better than Buford, Rome, Grayson.”

The Packers already have taken on McEachern, a Cobb County powerhouse, and Trinity Catholic from St. Louis, one of the top teams in Missouri. In previous years, Propst has played his old school, Hoover (Alabama), along with Tampa-Plant and American Heritage (Florida), and this year’s non-region schedule includes Grayson and Alcovy. Propst’s Hoover teams also faced John Curtis (Louisiana) and Cincinnati-Colerain.

“He’s playing us for the same reason we played Hoover, the same reason we played American Heritage,” Propst said of Grage playing his Packers. “I think you’ve got to take risks. I think it only makes him better. He can tell his kids nothing is going to be tougher than that. Maybe as tough but not tougher. And I think that will help his program.”

Grage also coached baseball but gave that up to concentrate on football. He asked Propst to teach him everything he did in front of the scenes and behind the scenes to build a winning program.

“He allowed me that opportunity,” he said.

And now, Grage and his Bulldogs, ranked No. 4 in the state in Class AA by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Georgia Sports Writers Association, will visit Propst’s Class 7A Packers, ranked No. 2 by the AJC and No. 3 by the GSWA, on Friday night.

It’s one of Thomasville’s oldest rivalries, though the two teams have not played each other in nine years. Despite the difference in classification and size of the school, Grage thinks his players won’t be taken aback by what they see Friday night in Moultrie.

“I’m excited for it. I’m excited about the atmosphere,” he said. “I’m excited or our kids to go and see that. But again, that’s not anything new. We had the best atmosphere in South Georgia right here last week.”

Editor Pat Donahue can be reached at (229) 226-2400 ext. 1806.