When cross-town rivals Waterloo and Gibault square off on the soccer pitch to open the season this coming Monday, it will be more than just a game.

Waterloo players got together and decided to make the city rivalry into a game to bring the entire community together for a great cause.

The contest is being dedicated to Zac Epplin, a Gibault Catholic High School graduate and soccer player who died July 1 after a two-year fight with a rare bone cancer.

Epplin was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma in the fall of 2013 during his senior year. The Gibault team went on to win the state championship in a magical run. Epplin was there on the sideline to root the Hawks to victory.

“I think it’s them just being generous and branching out,” Gibault coach Matt Reeb said of the decision to honor Epplin.

During the season opener, fans of both teams can purchase T-shirts or 50/50 raffle tickets and make donations. Waterloo head soccer coach Chad Holden said all the proceeds will go to the American Cancer Society on behalf of the Epplin family.

“It puts things in perspective, that sports are just a game,” Holden said. “There are a lot more things in life than sports. There are going to be tragedies in everybody’s lives and some people take sports a little too seriously. This really puts things in perspective and helps us use a sport like soccer to make the game more special.”

Reeb echoed those sentiments.

“It shows that the game of soccer is more than just a game of where someone wins and someone loses,” Reeb said. “Soccer helps teach lessons about life, and in this instance, there is a local camaraderie and brotherhood that builds the local soccer in the area. They feel it too, just as we and those that were close to Zac and had experienced the loss of him.”

Last season, Gibault finished the year with a record of 7-5-4.

Waterloo went 18-6-1 last season, winning a regional title.

The teams didn’t play each other last season. But in the 2013-14 season, the teams played to a 1-1 tie at Columbia.

The cross-town rivalry renews at 4:15 p.m. on Monday at Waterloo High School.

(Read previews of both teams in the Fall Sports Preview, which appears in our Aug. 26 paper.)