Gray Collegiate schedules football series with power IMG Academy. Here’s what we know

Lou Bezjak
·2 min read

Gray Collegiate football will get a stern test next week before heading into the playoffs.

The War Eagles, the No. 1 ranked team in South Carolina’s Class 2A, has added a game against national powerhouse IMG Academy (Fla.) on Oct. 19.

The deal was finalized this week and will be part of a home-and-home series between the War Eagles and Ascenders. Gray will go to Florida this year, while IMG Academy will come to West Columbia next season.

Gray Collegiate will be the first S.C. high school football team to play IMG Academy, which is located in Bradenton, Florida. Dutch Fork was supposed to play the Ascenders in 2020 at the Cam Newton Classic, but it was canceled because of the COVID pandemic.

IMG Academy’s national team is 5-0 on the season and is ranked No. 4 in this week’s MaxPreps Top 25. IMG is a private boarding school that’s known for the emphasis it places on athletics and on getting their athletes onto college rosters. Their national team plays other squads from such states as Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Connecticut.

This year’s IMG Academy roster features some of the top-ranked players in the country. Five-star cornerback Ellis Robinson is No. 3 in the 247Sports Composite and committed to Georgia. Defensive lineman David Stone, ranked No. 6 in the 247Sports Composite, is committed to Oklahoma.

Former Chapin standout Jayden Bradford is IMG’s quarterback and committed to Liberty. The Ascenders have 10 players committed to play at Power-5 schools for the Class of 2024 and several other top prospects in Class of 2025.

The War Eagles (9-2) have been adding games to its schedule after the other teams in Region 4-2A forfeited games against them. Gray has been able to find replacements for four of the games, losing at St. John’s (DC) and Clearwater Academy on the road while defeating Portal (Ga.) at home.

Gray Collegiate coach Adam Holmes told The State that IMG will help with Gray’s travel expenses and let them stay overnight at their campus facility.

After playing IMG, Gray will be off for the final week of the regular season and open up the playoffs at home on Nov. 3. The War Eagles have home field advantage in the 2A Upper State playoffs as long as they keep winning.

Region football opponents Fairfield Central, Keenan, Eau Claire, Columbia, Mid-Carolina and Newberry all forfeited this season’s games against Gray, a public charter school that’s faced criticism because of concerns over fair play and how the school build its athletic rosters.

Those traditional public schools view their decisions to forfeit as taking a stand on what they say creates a competitive imbalance that needs to be addressed and remedied.