Fresh out of their GAC graduation gowns, class of 2018 graduates Ford Roberts and Kyle Ellis will don Ivy League football jerseys this Fall and play against each other in a Yale vs. Princeton matchup. The game will take place in the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut, a picturesque New England autumn setting for two young men raised together in the backdrop of the South on the GAC campus for many years.

Kyle, who studies and plays football at Yale, and Ford, who now wears the Princeton jersey, have experienced all the pleasure and pain that come with youth and high school football: modifying workouts and diets, memorizing countless hours of film, enduring the losses and celebrating the wins, all while excelling academically here at GAC. Balancing high standards across the board is an expectation for these student-athletes. High expectations, high standards, and high support result in high rewards. Both boys helped earn the Spartans four regional titles and placement in several state playoffs.

No doubt the athletic notoriety of the schools had a factor for both players in their school selection. However, these Ivy League schools will require them to adeptly manage their time and mastery of both athletics and academics. This unique requirement to maintain their status as scholar-athletes at a school with high academic standards was both a familiar and welcome continued challenge to Kyle and Ford.

In just over 20 years, the GAC Football program has created a legacy of student-athletes pushing the limits of excellence past graduation and into the Ivy Leagues. GAC Football has proven to attract high achievers throughout the years.

• 2018 – Ford Roberts, Princeton
• 2018 – Kyle Ellis, Yale
• 2014 – Rafe Chapple, Yale
• 2014 – Chris Williams-Lopez, Yale
• 2014 – Ross Wood, Dartmouth
• 2013 – Peter Whiteneck, Penn
• 2012 – Dre Nelson, Princeton
• 2012 – Jonathan Ford, Cornell
• 2009 – Colton Chapple, Harvard
• 2007 – Meko McCray, Princeton
• 2005 – Eric Shultz, Harvard
• 1995 – Bo Hinton, Dartmouth