Vidalia football player gets academic scholarship
Published 12:01 am Thursday, December 6, 2018
VIDALIA — Vidalia High School senior offensive lineman Nathan Nations recently accepted a full-ride academic scholarship from McNeese State University.
“They offered him the scholarship recently. It was based off his academics and his ACT (score),” Vidalia High principal Bernie Cooley said. “They are awarding a lot of students these scholarships. Nathan has been awarded that scholarship from McNeese State. In our mind, he’s an outstanding young man.”
Cooley added that the John McNeese Scholars Award is the highest scholarship awarded at McNeese State.
Nations has not only excelled in the classroom, but also on the football field.
“Not only sports, but (more importantly) academics and maintaining his ACT,” Cooley said.
Nations was a four-year starting center for the Vikings, who in 2018 went 9-4 overall, finished second in LHSAA District 2-2A, and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Class 2A State Playoffs before losing to No. 1 seed Many High School.
As to what he thought about being offered an academic scholarship, Nations said, “It’s just a good opportunity, really. I don’t have to pay that much money when I get to college. I’m just thankful for it. I’ve been working hard for an opportunity like that. I finally got it.”
Both Cooley and Vidalia head football coach Dee Faircloth said that Nations is also the school’s scholarship nominee for the 2019 Miss-Lou Foundation of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame Banquet, which will take place on Feb. 28.
Nations said he does plan on playing football for the Cowboys, but not right away.
“I plan on being on the scout team and redshirting my freshman year and see where they need me,” Nations said.
Nations also made the LHSAA District 2-2A All-District First Team as an offensive lineman.