Go with your plan. Copy and paste into a new story. Change the title, the subtitle, and the image. If you didn't know about Kickers back then, add one of those in.

Now, look at the main body. Rewrite the words and then worry about formatting. Make sure you're using an editing tool and check out all of the various suggestions it's giving you. I don't always follow the suggestions but I at least check them out.

And that's it. You have a fresh twist on an old story and then like you said, you can submit it to publications then. I think you've got a plan.