A high school coach in Washington state has prayed at the end of Friday night's football game, despite being told by district officials to stop.

The Kitsap Sun reports that Bremerton High assistant coach Joe Kennedy knelt and prayed on the 50-yard line as his players left the field. Players from the other team and others joined him.

Superintendent Aaron Leavell has said Kennedy's long-standing practice runs counter to the constitutional mandate for separation of church and state. He said in a statement before the game that staff must refrain from religious expression while on duty.

Kennedy's attorneys, from the Texas-based Liberty Institute, say the district has no right to ban the coach from personally praying. They say he neither encouraged nor discouraged students from participating.

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