In a community better known for hockey players Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon, Justin Stevens is another Cole Harbour athlete looking to make a big splash in sports.

Stevens, 18, has accepted an athletic scholarship to Michigan State University where he'll play for the football Spartans. He'll be one of only a handful of Nova Scotia players to get a chance to play football in the U.S. college ranks.

"The decision was made solely because the family environment there was just amazing and the program's history is so great," Stevens said Monday following a workout at Cole Harbour Place.

Stevens is a six-foot-six, 285-pound offensive lineman.

His family realized that he would have to leave home to develop his football skills. His father, Dale, played varsity basketball in Canada for the Saint Mary's Huskies.

Stevens is one of a just a few Nova Scotians to get a chance to play football in the NCAA. (Twitter)

Justin left Auburn Drive High School after his Grade 11 year.

Over the next two years he played American football at Clarkson Football North in Mississauga, Ont., a school that specializes in getting student-athletes prepared to play at the U.S. collegiate level.

"Our schedule was strictly playing against the top 25 teams in the states," said Stevens. "The coaching I received and the talent I was up against every week, it wasn't hard to get better."

Making the move to Ontario appears to have been the right choice for Stevens.

He caught the attention of U.S. college scouts and had a dozen offers to play NCAA Division I football. He first committed to Eastern Michigan University but then switched to Michigan State.

Stevens works out Monday at Cole Harbour Place. He'll enrol at Michigan State after Christmas. (Paul Palmeter/CBC)

The school in East Lansing is well known for its football program. The Big-10 Conference team has Miami, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio State, Minnesota and Penn State, among others, on its 2020 schedule.

MSU has just under 50,000 students. The football team plays at Spartan Stadium, where 75,000 fans pack the stadium for home games.

"It's always been a dream of mine to play in a stadium that size with a fan base that's so supportive," said Stevens.

After Stevens graduated from Football North in 2018 he decided to go back to play another year of football.

That means he will be enrolling at Michigan State next week.

Ready to get to campus

He still won't be able to play football until the fall but Stevens is looking forward to getting to campus.

He doesn't know how much playing time he'll get in his rookie season.

But by the time he finishes his four years at Michigan State, he's hoping he'll catch the attention of scouts in the National Football League.

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