LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY – “The biggest thing is his commitment and hard work…the same commitment and hard work will help him when he gets to college," said Sullivan West’s veteran coach Ron Bauer during a “celebratory signing” event held in the local high school’s library for Collin Hauschild on Thursday, March 22.

According to Bauer, Hauschild “put in the time” to learn the game of football.

“He’s really a person who has learned a lot of good things," as the quarterback picked up the intricate nuances of leading his team on offense, while also taking to the field as a strong defender of the home turf.

“He has a good mind and attitude for football," added Bauer.

Flanked by family, school administrators, coaches and loyal members of the ever present "Dawg Pound," the 17-year old senior signed the dotted line to enroll at Earlham College in Richmond, IN after he graduates Sullivan West on June 23.

Hauschild made a name for himself as one of the guiding forces in three sports: football, basketball and baseball, but the pigskin was always his first pick.

Last season, he led the Blue Devils (a combined football squad comprised of players from four schools: Roscoe, Downsville, Livingston Manor and Roscoe), with Roscoe’s legendary coach Fred Ahart at the helm.

"It was truly a football family, and Collin was the center of that family, and he shares that honor with his team mates," said Ahart of the 2017 football season.

Looking ahead to Hauschild’s continuing to pursue his chosen sport in college, Ahart added, “Collin will be the first to admit that his team mates are an important part of making this happen.”

Last year, Collin and his mother Dawn went on an 8,000-plus mile road trip, as they attended 19 football camps  in search of the right fit for Hauschild after graduating from “The Home of the Bulldogs”.

"It was a lot of traveling, a lot of bonding," she recalled. “I’m happy he’s moving up to the next level.”

In his quest to the perfect match, Collin Hauschild turned down interest from a NCAA Division I school to enroll in a Division III college, where he is slated to fill shoes of Earlham’s graduating starting QB.

Earlham is a private liberal arts college that was established in 1847 by the Religious Society of Friends, commonly referred to as Quakers.

In his sports career at Sullivan West, Hauschild started out as Red Dog, moved up to a Bulldog and last season played on the Blue Devils football team.

Next year he will trade in his favorite jersey #11, a ‘number’ he proudly wore in all three sports at Sullivan West, for #10 at Earlham, as his beloved #11 is already taken by an upperclassman on the Quakers football team.

“It was the best opportunity for my educational career and football…I want to be part of their system," said Hauschild of his motivation to attend Earlham.

Reflecting on his participation in sports as a three-letter scholar athlete at Sullivan West, he said, “They taught me how to be a leader…they prepared me for the world, and I want to take the things I’ve learned on the field with my team mates into the real world, and be there for people when they are in need.”

“The biggest thing is when someone is in need and you can be there for them.”

Collin’s father John Hauschild wears more than one hat in the county’s division of emergency management and homeland security as emergency services training coordinator and fire coordinator.

As coach of a Sullivan West Red Dog football team and later at the helm of a modified team, he watched his son mature on the gridiron.

“I watched him grow over the years…. watching him as my son and a player has been very special…he’s worked very hard and is very dedicated,"   said Hauschild.

“I’m very proud of my son.”