Rivalry revisited: Triad drubs Highland in teams’ first alumni football game

Even though many of the players were two decades removed from their high-school years, there was no shortage of emotion Friday when Route 40 rivals Highland and Triad renewed acquaintances in an alumni football game.

Triad won 40-6 before a large gathering of over 2,000.

“I’m just fortunate that I’ve coached a lot of these guys the last 10, 15 years,” said 1985 Triad graduate Tom King, the oldest player in the game at 49. “This was a dream come true to be on the field with these guys. They’ve all worked extremely hard.

“I was only going to play about two plays, then with all the adrenaline going on and all the excitement, I ended up playing about 20. So it was a dream come true.”

Triad led 14-0 at halftime and 20-0 in the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs rallied to within 20-6, but the Knights scored 20 points in the final 7 minutes, 4 seconds.

The game was held in conjunction with Alumni Football USA, a California-based company that provided uniforms. Players paid $100 apiece to participate, and with the exception of one injury, they met the physical demands of a game many had not played for years.

The youngest players in the game were 19. Many others were in their 20s and 30s, with a handful of some in their 40s.

One of the latter was Highland running back Billy Greenwald, who romped to 45 touchdowns as a senior in 1989, which was a state record at the time.

“It makes you feel old,” said Greenwald, 44, as his 5-year-old Morgan, raced toward him before Greenwald picked her up and hugged her.

“Good job, daddy!” Morgan told Greenwald. “You’re sweaty. Can you put me down now?”

Greenwald, laughing, said he’s glad he played in the game.

“It was fun. I had a good time,” he said. “It’s a good fund-raiser. We had a lot of great guys and I met a lot of the younger guys. I played OK for not doing it for a long time. Age makes a difference. The younger you are, you can definitely take it a lot more.”

Triad was coached by 27-year-old Joe Ephrem, a 2007 graduate who said Thursday that he had no interest in losing to Highland since he never experienced that feeling as a player for the Knights. Ephrem played on the offensive line for much of the game.

Craig Dupont, 38, a 1996 graduate of Triad, played the entire game at center. Dupont was winded by the third quarter and expressed happiness that he wouldn’t have to play in another game anytime soon.

“I’m gassed,” Dupont said, sweat running down his face.

Highland was coached by former all-state running back Lance Still. Still was unable to play in the game because of hip and back injuries.

Former Missouri lineman Austin Wuebbels was a force for Triad. He recorded a key sack in the second quarter that stymied a Highland drive and also scored on a two-point conversion after Triad’s first touchdown, a pass from Jeff Johnson to Jake Sims.

“I think both teams came together,” the 27-year-old Wuebbels said, moments after both teams post for a massive group picture. “What was neat about it is there were all kinds of different ages and we all came together as one on both sides.”

Wuebbels mostly enjoyed the conversion run.

“It’s been a while since I scored a point,” Wuebbels said.

Shane McBride, a 2005 graduate, suffered an early injury and didn’t play as much as he would have liked. But that didn’t damped the experience for McBride, one of the best players in the history of the Knights’ program.

“I didn’t get to touch it as much as I would have liked,” he said. “I had an injury right off the bat, but it was pretty awesome to see both communities come together and pretty much throw it down in the rivalry game. It was awesome for both communities to get together and get after it one more time.

“This just shows what the Rivalry is on (Route) 40. Hopefully, we can do it again next year.”

This story was originally published August 1, 2016 at 12:48 PM with the headline "Rivalry revisited: Triad drubs Highland in teams’ first alumni football game."