After spending his junior year in a lot of pain and with much less physical exertion than he wanted, Moffat County senior Ian Hafey more than made up for that on the gridiron this past fall.

So much so that people at the next level took notice.

Hafey officially inked his paperwork Thursday to join the football program at Colorado Mesa University.

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Joined by parents Kip and Jill and Bulldog head coach Nick Colgate, the moment was a long time coming after he first began checking out the Mavericks several months ago.

Colgate noted during the ceremony that after knowing Ian since middle school, he’s expecting him to be a dynamo at the college level of the sport.

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“He’s been a great leader throughout his years,” Colgate said of one of his star players. “Just a great person to be around, always played with a chip on his shoulder, something I hope to see him do up at Mesa. He’s hard-working, dedicated to his craft, and most of all, loves his buddies.”

After proving himself in a hard-hitting sophomore season for MCHS, Ian missed the following year in football and basketball thanks to an ankle condition. It required corrective surgery that allowed him to recover by spring and go all the way to state in discus for MoCo track and field.

As a senior, he became an unstoppable two-way player on the football field. Besides terrorizing opposing quarterbacks as a defensive end — gaining 10 sacks, 66 tackles, three forced fumbles and a blocked kick across the fall — he also became a threat on offense with the same combination of sheer force, speed and agility as a running back and tight end, amassing 662 rushing yards and 598 receiving with a combination.

He scored 15 total touchdowns between the ground and air, as well as throwing a touchdown pass on a trick play against Aspen, a team against which he crossed the goal line five times in the same night.

In a season that saw the Bulldogs advance to the state semifinals for the first time in several decades, Ian was instrumental at key moments — including a last-second deflection against Elizabeth that ensured the Bulldogs an upset victory against a higher seeded team.

Among many accolades were All-Conference First Team and All-State Second Team from CHSAA, as well as being selected for All-State through Colorado High School Coaches Association.

As the Bulldogs’ offensive coordinator, his father was especially proud to see his son make the leap to the next stage.

“He overcame some obstacles and showed a lot of resilience and really worked himself into this opportunity,” Kip Hafey said. “They’ve been watching him for a while, and he had some opportunities at different schools. Mesa just seemed to be the right fit.”

As the youngest of four brothers, Ian suited up with older siblings Ethan and Logan as a sophomore and will follow one of them into Colorado Mesa athletics after Logan signed with CMU track two years ago.

“He told me quite a bit about the campus, and he really likes it there,” Ian said.

He plans to study construction management with the hopes of owning his own building company in the future.

He added that Mesa coaches have discussed moving him from defensive end to outside linebacker — which will be a change, but nothing he can’t handle with the right leadership.

“With the new coaching staff, I think they’re really turning it around and look pretty good this next year,” Ian said. “I’m really excited to be there and be part of it.”