Taylor Hays and William Daniel were rocks for the Basalt High School football team this past fall, guiding the Longhorns to an 11-1 record and a trip to the Class 2A state semifinals.

So, it made a lot of sense for Daniel to postpone his college announcement until Hays was also ready to commit and hold a signing ceremony together.

“That’s my brother for life,” Hays said on Thursday when reflecting on their small March 5 event, which came exactly a month after the official National Signing Day that signifies the start of the signing window for their class. “Growing up playing with him, it was a really special moment for the two of us. Just to be able to share that together was a really awesome experience. I’m very grateful that he waited for me to decide.”

Both players are headed to the NCAA Division III ranks for football. Daniel will play for Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota, while Hays is bound for Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Hays largely delayed his decision as he was in the thick of a playoff push with the BHS basketball team.

“He is my teammate; he is my captain. So, it meant a lot. Through our whole senior season, we were kind of the ones pushing to always get better, never being satisfied,” Daniel said. “Just to sign together and realize all of that hard work paid off was something really special, so I wanted to make sure he was there when I signed, and I was there when he signed.”

Daniel was part of Basalt’s two-headed monster at running back this past season, alongside junior Will Tarallo. In 11 games played, Daniel rushed for a team-high 1,390 yards and 17 touchdowns, with Tarallo adding 1,223 yards rushing and 15 scores. Daniel also easily led BHS with 142 total tackles.

He will stick with playing running back for Bethel.

“I started talking to the coach and was able to get in a visit there after the season,” he said. “As soon as I got on campus, it felt right. It kind of checked all my boxes. They have a really good football program. They have a solid engineering program, and they had the faith-based culture that I was looking for. It was everything lining up.”

The Bethel Royals went 11-3 this past fall, playing out of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. They eventually lost in the national quarterfinals.

“Since I signed, they signed another four running backs, so I definitely have my work cut out for me next year,” Daniel said. “It’s definitely something I’ve been working toward basically all of high school. Every year, I’d see all these kids after their last game of their senior year holding their heads, knowing they’ll never get to play again. I don’t have to deal with that for another four years, which is nice.”

He is uncertain of his career path but does plan to pursue a degree in engineering.

As with Daniel, the Longhorns likely don’t make the state semifinals without Hays. Listed as being 6-foot-2 in MaxPreps, he was the team’s star wideout, bringing in 31 catches for 552 yards with 12 touchdowns for the run-happy Longhorns (Daniel also had 19 catches for 234 yards and three TDs). Hays was equally as effective on the ground, rushing 31 times for 360 yards and five TDs on mostly end-arounds or reverses.

On defense, he was a standout in the secondary, leading the team with eight interceptions. He plans to stay exclusively at receiver for the Prairie Wolves.

Nebraska Wesleyan is coming off a 3-7 season that ended short of the DIII playoffs. They play out of the American Rivers Conference.

Hays wants to pursue a career in athletics and plans to double major in sport management and business administration.

“Playing college football, or any college sport, at any level is going to be competitive. I just think DIII is kind of where I’m at and where I belong. I think I’m right where I need to be,” Hays said. “The biggest things were the location of the school as well as the coaching staff. They made me feel they really wanted me — not just as a player, but as a person. They made me feel that I wasn’t just another number.”

While Nebraska Wesleyan and Bethel do not play in the same conference, there will always be a chance the teams could meet up in non-conference play or in the postseason, which would be a dream situation for the Longhorn duo.

Hays, especially, is thrilled to be playing college football considering he thought baseball would be the sport that took him to the next level.

“It’s something I really wasn’t thinking about until my junior year,” he said. “My dad kind of brought it up to me about how he thinks I could play at the next level. It’s always been a dream of mine to play a college sport, just not football. That’s not the one I thought I was going to end up playing. But I’m super excited about the opportunity.”