He collapsed on the field twice. But he will coach his team in a state title game.
Many football coaches teach their players to face adversity. Don’t give up when you’re down. At Southern Nash, the Firebirds players have learned that lesson from their coach.
They watched as Brian Foster, who’s in his 30th year with the program and 22nd as head coach, continue to lead Southern Nash after his his wife, Kim, and son, Zack, survived a near-fatal crash on I-40 near Wilmington three years ago. Foster took a temporary leave to support his family during their rehabilitation, but he returned to the team.
“I didn’t want to go out that way,” Foster. “My wife felt the same way. She could have retired, but she went back to teach (art at Southern Nash). I think it’s one of those things where you think you need to be doing what you’re doing.”
Foster, 52, has also pushed through his own health scares this past month. But he will be on the sideline Saturday for Southern Nash’s first N.C. High School Athletic Association state championship game in program history. The Firebirds (15-0) face Charlotte Catholic (11-3) for the 3A title at 3 p.m. at N.C. State’s at Carter-Finley Stadium.
In last week’s 3A East Regional win over Eastern Alamance, Foster collapsed on the sideline and was taken to the hospital. He said doctors told him his body shut down from a “blood pressure spike.” He also collapsed in the second-round win, but he has been cleared for Saturday’s final.
“It’s a scary thing to be lying on your face with 3,000 or 4,000 people in the stands,” Foster said Monday at an NCHSAA press conference. “I hate for my kids and my mom, who was in the stands, to see it.
“It’s disappointing I wasn’t there at the end of the game for the celebration with all the work we’ve done to get to that point. This is what we’ve dreamed about, but I did get to see some video.”
Southern Nash’s scrappy roster
Foster’s unbeaten team is a led by Wake Forest-commit Quinton Cooley, a running back in a double tight end, three-back offense. Otherwise this is a typical Southern Nash team that is longer on scrappy high school kids than Division I college prospects.
“We’ve had those types of kids for a while,” Foster said. “It takes more than a good team to win a state championship. You’ve got to have the right calls and you have to keep your team chemistry together. This is a close-knit group.”
Cooley has averaged 202.5 yards and three touchdowns per game, totaling 2,633 yards with 45 rushing touchdowns. The 5-8, 193-pound senior was lightly recruited for his height as a three-star prospect, but he’s the type player Wake Forest develops into a 4-star production.
“I’ve told him he’s the best football player I’ve been around for what he’s got, and I’ve been around for while,” Foster said. “He takes every play like it’s his last. He cares so much about his school, his community and his teammates. I tell my kids, ‘Don’t tell me how you feel, you’re going to show me on Friday night.’ He takes that to heart.”
Foster’s son, Matt, is the senior quarterback with 1,115 yards rushing and 669 passing.
Defensively, junior defensive end Terence Raspberry (5-10, 208 pounds) leads the team with 75 tackles and 18 for a loss. Senior defensive back Izaiah Walker-Warren, who has committed to N.C. Central, has 74 tackles and six interceptions.
Charlotte Catholic is the 3A defending state champion that has won nine straight after a 2-3 start.
This story was originally published December 10, 2019 at 1:07 PM.