Drew Brantley: Alumni night fun for more than players

There were no bands or fight songs. Cheerleaders who did perform were all young enough to be the players’ children, and in at least one case, they were. When alumni from Dalton visited rival Northwest Whitfield for a full-contact football rematch on Saturday night, it was a 14-6 Northwest win over the Catamounts that didn’t count.

But it did matter.

Many people I talked to before the game predicted an injury-filled evening, but the result was not that much different from a typical high school night.

“At first, I was little hesitant,” said Lisa Brooker, whose husband Jerry played for the Bruins. “But he was full of adrenaline all day today. Even down to planning what he was going to eat and saying he wasn’t going to work in the yard as much.”

During the game there were big hits, long runs and passes, and Northwest’s Hector Holguin just missed a 38-yard field goal that had plenty of length but was just wide right.

Donna Scruggs used to wear a button with a picture of her son, Kelly, to his games before he graduated in 1993. For Saturday’s game, Scruggs — like many other mothers — passed the button on to her daughter-in-law. And after the game began, the mother did not see much of a change in her son from 20 years or so.

“He doesn’t seem to be any different,” Donna said. “He seems like he’s just as fast.”

Kelly Scruggs works as an official during high school football season, and he could have thrown flags in the game. But he was pushed to trade his striped shirt for a blue-and-orange jersey on this night, his mother said.

“He was supposed to ref this game,” Donna said. “But I think they shamed him into playing.”

Like Scruggs, Northwest’s Chad “Bubba” Young also now officiates games. But he gained a little perspective by switching back from official to player on Saturday.

“I didn’t catch any flags, but I was telling them what to call,” Young said. “It’s funny. When you’re playing, you see everything the other team is getting away with.”

Current Bruins coach Josh Robinson said the alumni event, coupled with Northwest’s spring game the night before, made for a good weekend he would like to see expanded.

“I would like to see Southeast (Whitfield) and Murray County included in it next time,” said Robinson, a former Southeast player. “It would help all the teams, and I’d think there would be a lot of people to participate. It’s definitely something, as a Northwest Quarterback Club, we’re going to explore.”

To be clear, Robinson is not looking for an opportunity to play again. When asked about the possibility of pulling on a Southeast jersey, he quickly suggested he is more than satisfied to stay on the sideline.

The Dalton-Northwest game was organized through Gridiron Alumni, a California-based business that conducts similar games across the country.

“Most people don’t think it’s for real,” Gridiron Alumni’s Tracy Cavender said. “They hear it’s tackle football and they think it’s a scam or something. We have to find someone who’s a leader. He starts talking, and that’s how it happens.

“We didn’t personally know anyone in Dalton.”

When the word got out that old Bruins had a chance to chase the Cats again, Hal Brooker was eager to give it a go.

Brooker, who played with six family members Saturday night with graduation years from this spring back to the early 1990s, got some unnecessary encouragement from his cousin, Jerry.

“When I saw it in the paper, I texted Hal ‘You need to sign up,” Jerry said.

Hal quickly replied, “And I sent him a text back, ‘Already have.’”

The Bruins had more participants over the visitors — by two or three to one — requiring most of the Cats to spend time on both sides of the ball all game. With a limited roster, Chris Cavender, who helps his father run Gridiron Alumni, played quarterback for Dalton most of the game.

After the game the elder Cavender joked that Dalton had to recruit a quarterback all the way from California. And as proof that some byproducts of the Cats-Bruins rivalry were not settled in the rematch, Hal Brooker was quick to make a joke about the prospect of Dalton recruiting players.

“It’s happened before,” he said.

To be fair, the alumni matchup has little chance to replace the NFL on Sunday afternoons, should the labor strife wash out the next pro season. But that does not mean it wasn’t full-contact football either. At the end of the game, the alumni wore the effect of their efforts.

In the preview of the game, Chris Whitfield appropriately referenced the film, “The Best of Times,” which depicted just such a prep rematch, starring Robin Williams and Kurt Russell.

After Saturday’s game, several players were heard to repeat the line Danny Glover made famous in the Lethal Weapon movies about engaging in strenuous activities at an advanced age.

But fans and players also expressed a desire to see these types of games not fade away.

Connie Sayer was in the stands to cheer her son, Michael Leonard, a 1991 Dalton grad. She lamented the lower turnout of Dalton fans and players on the field, calling for a rematch in town.

“I want them to come back next year and show them what Catamount football is all about,” Sayer said. “I’d love to see it at Harmon Field next year.”

The participants, including 1999 Dalton grad Brian Roberts, would not mind a rematch of the rematch anywhere, anytime.

“With whatever’s in me, I’d suit up every single time,” Roberts said. “I’d suit up tomorrow.”

Drew Brantley is a sports writer for The Daily Citizen. You can write to him at drewbrantley@daltoncitizen.com.

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