Four Rockies have mutual signing day

PLYMOUTH — Wednesday morning four Plymouth Rockie seniors made their college football and academic plans clear.

Nat Hiatt, Kyle Lacefield, Jacob LaFree and Chaz Scruggs to sign on to play at the next level, the tight-knit quartet decided to do it together. Hiatt and Lacefield both signed on with NCAA DIII Trine, while LaFree committed to the DII University of Indianapolis, and Scruggs signed on to play with DII St. Joseph College in a group signing ceremony at PHS Wednesday.

“I think the celebration of them all being together was an indicator of what their mentality was,” said Barron. “They didn’t want to sign separately; they all wanted to sign on the same day. So that kind of shows you how they cultivated within their senior class a being together. They always did everything together; they didn’t do anything separately.”

“We’ve always been a close-knit team, ever since senior trip I think,” echoed Lacefield. “Just everything we do is always together and just to have this opportunity to sign all together, it’s amazing. It’s a great thing for Plymouth High School. I love it.”

Hiatt and Lacefield ended their careers at PHS as three-year starters with the Rockies. Both were All-NLC  — Hiatt at offensive tackle after two seasons at center and Lacefield at safety outside linebacker and split end.

Scruggs, a one-year starter at nose tackle who earned All-NLC honors and the Rockie Scholarship this past season, was himself considering Trine. In the end, however, he decided that St. Joe would be a better fit.

“It’s always kind of been a dream of mine to continue my football career after high school,” said Scruggs. “High school ball is awesome, but it’s just another step, another four years or five depending on what happens. I chose St. Joe because of the way it kind of resembled Rockie football. A lot of emphasis on hard work, and hard work will get you places.”

While Hiatt, Lacefield and Scruggs will all play on the defensive side of the ball, LaFree will head down to UIndy to man the kicker position for the Greyhounds. As a three-year starting kicker with Plymouth — although he did play some on both the offensive and defensive lines — LaFree was ineligible to receive an All-NLC pick but was instead awarded a District II All-Star nod in addition to the Academic All-State honors he received in both football and wrestling.

“It’s just been a dream since I was a little kid running around the backyard being able to go to the next level,” said LaFree. “Selecting where to go was easy because of the people there and the program. Just high character, high quality people. It was just a good fit, great place to go.”