Jac’que Polite, a 2011 Ridgeland High School graduate, will sign on Wednesday to play football at NCAA Division II Missouri Western State University, according to a release from Jasper County School District spokesperson Shellie Murdaugh.

Polite, who will play left tackle for the Griffons, was a 2010 Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette All-Area honorable mention. He spent the past two seasons at Gray Military Academy in Cayce.

Polite, 20, chose Gray Military Academy in 2011 in an effort to boost his GPA and test scores in hopes of landing a scholarship at a four-year school. At the time, Polite’s best option was the chance to walk on at a handful of schools, including The Citadel, South Carolina State, Newberry and Edward Waters.

"I wanted to take that route, because I want to get better in the academics," Polite told the Island Packet at the time. "My SAT and ACT scores weren't really where I needed to be at."

Polite, who will have a full scholarship, will sign a letter of intent in a 2 p.m. ceremony Wednesday at the Jasper County School District board room.

The Griffons went 12-2 in 2012, falling in the Division II quarterfinals, 17-10, to then-fifth-ranked Minnesota State-Mankato. They finished the season ranked fifth in the nation in the AFCA Division II Top 25.

AREA FOOTBALL COMMITMENTS

(National Signing Day is Wednesday, Feb. 6)

Division I

Tyler Chisholm, K/P, Hilton Head Christian — S.C. State

Dee Delaney, WR/DB, Whale Branch — The Citadel

Michael Julian, QB, Hilton Head High — Toledo

Jamario Williams, WR/DB, Hilton Head Christian — Wofford

Division II

Willie Doe, DL, Battery Creek — Newberry

C.J. Frazier, QB, Blufffton — Newberry

Jac’que Polite, OL, Ridgeland — Western Missouri State

NAIA

Tyrik Spicer, Whale Branch, LB -- Edward Waters