By Kevin Eckleberry

Sports Editor

Now that was a road trip.

As teammates at LaGrange College for the past four years, Alex Sapp and Richard Okpani spent plenty of time on the road together, traveling as far away as Illinois and Missouri for football games.

They’d never made a road trip like the one they took last week, though.

Okpani and Sapp were part of a group of NCAA Division III players from across the country who went to Mexico to play in the Tazón de Estrellas (Bowl of the Stars) on Saturday.

Players from 20 states and 35 teams were represented on the Team Stars & Stripes Roster.

The U.S. team took on an all-star team composed of collegiate players from Mexico’s Tec Monterrey, which is the premier private university system in Mexico.

Sapp and Okpani spent a week in Mexico leading up to the game on Saturday, which was won by the Mexican team 24-12.

The whole week, Sapp was, “was a blast.”

“It was such an experience, such a good time,” said Sapp, a defensive lineman. “You get a chance to put on the pads one more time, and you get the opportunity to represent your country.”

Sapp said the “practices were relaxed,” with the main focus being to learn the plays.

Outside of football, the players spent plenty of time getting to see the sites.

“We say the pyramids, we got to see the National Cathedral (in Mexico City),” he said. “It was just an experience.”

During the game, Okpani and Sapp both got to play a lot, and Sapp even started the game.

“That was just by chance,” he said. “We drew names out of a hat, and I did start.”

They both played a lot on special teams.

“I had a few tackles, and I think Richard did too,” Sapp said.

Sapp and Okpani earned their spots on the team thanks to terrific careers at LaGrange College.

Okpani, a linebackers, has started each of the 41 games the Panthers have ever played.

He left as the program’s all-time leading tackler with 250, and he was a team captain for three straight seasons.

Sapp was a three-year starter, and was an all-conference player his junior season.

Sapp did some of his best work in the class room where he has made the Dean’s List five times.

Sapp, who will graduate in the spring, has applied to medical school.

LaGrange College head coach Todd Mooney called both players “very deserving of their selection.”