Rick Patrick
rick@greenepublishing.com
Jace Grant, a senior on the Aucilla Christian Academy (ACA) varsity Warriors football team, was recently named the “Scholar Athlete of the Week” by WTXL-TV, the ABC affiliate in Tallahassee. In the two years he has been playing football on the varsity squad for the Warriors, Grant has established himself as an integral part of the team on both sides of the ball.
As a running back, Grant has averaged over 162 yards per game and 9.3 yards each time he totes the football. During his junior year he rushed for over 1,100 yards and is on pace to better that mark this season. So far, this year, he has rushed for 841 yards through five games. Grant also has 83 receiving yards to his credit this year. So far, he has scored a total of 29 touchdowns for the Warriors.
Defensively, Grant has a total of 104 tackles, including 16 tackles for loss from his linebacker position.
In addition to his accomplishments on the field, he has a perfect 4.0 grade point average in the classroom. “It's not the easiest thing in the world, but you learn to balance it out,” said Grant on balancing sports and academics.
“If you want a prototypical football player who gets it done on the field and in the classroom, I'd say 'Jace Grant is the guy,'” said ACA Head Football Coach Colby Roberts. “He's the type of role model that you want your younger kids to look up to.”
Grant has one college offer to play football from Thomas University, but with his athletic ability and his work ethic both on the field and in the classroom, he will no doubt have many more.
Grant is the son of Carter and Christy Grant, of Monticello. He is the grandson of Martha Register, of Madison. He says he would like to study physical therapy in school.