Louis Raffin commits to play football at Hillsdale College, a Division II school in Michigan

Patrick Mochen
Onwardtrojans.com

Senior Louis Raffin has committed to play football with Hillsdale College, a Division II school in Michigan. Raffin played receiver for the Trojans, appearing in a few games sophomore year, missing most of junior year due to injury, and taking on a big role in the offense as a senior. Raffin said he is undecided on a major, but he interns at Northwest Health Hospital through the Chesterton High School Internship program, so he is considering the medical field. Raffin will be on both a partial academic scholarship and partial athletic scholarship.
Starting all 10 games for the Trojans as a senior, Raffin led the team in receptions (40), receiving yards (571) and touchdown receptions (four).
Despite missing all but the final three games of his junior season, Raffin led the team in receiving yards (205) and touchdown receptions (two).
Raffin’s goal wasn’t always to play college football. As a child, Raffin’s first-choice sport was always track. Being in a tight-knit family and watching 11 older siblings run made him think of track as his first sport. His brother Matt even ran track at Hillsdale.
“I’d say I was more into track from watching all my older siblings run growing up and watching them compete at high levels in track,” Raffin said.
Along with track, Raffin was also a big basketball fan, in part traceable to seeing highlights of Michael Jordan and watching Derrick Rose. Attending St. Patrick’s School from kindergarten through eighth grade, Raffin competed in cross country, basketball, volleyball, soccer, and track and field. He was definitely a big fan of football, but it wasn’t available at St. Pat’s.
“I wasn’t as into football as maybe the other sports because I didn’t actually play organized football ’til high school,” Raffin said.
Raffin competed in freshman football, freshman basketball, and track and field. He decided to drop basketball afterward in order to spend more time in his main sport at the moment: track and field. He got his first taste of varsity football his sophomore year when slot receiver Connor Hansen had to sit out for a few weeks because of an injury. Sophomore year, Raffin also got his first taste of the state track and field meet, running in the 4x400 meter relay.
The week of his first football game of the junior season, Raffin broke his collarbone during practice. He ended up missing nearly the entire season, but made the most of the three games he played. Raffin started to think of football as more of his main sport, since he had to look on from the sidelines for most of the season.
“It made me not take football for granted. I just had a lot of fun coming back,” he said.
Missing most of his junior year made him a big question mark for college scouts. However, his contributions on the offense his senior year got the attention of Hillsdale. Raffin went to a winter workout and a visit to the campus. He noted that he really liked the coaches, his future teammates, and everyone else he met at the visit. He also said that he had a lot of fun doing a football workout again, after a few months being done with the sport: putting on cleats, running routes, and catching passes. Raffin decided that he wanted to continue to play football, and so he accepted the offer he received from Hillsdale. Raffin said his brother Matt was also a big influence, helping him in his decision. Raffin’s father Rich played football at Chesterton and then at Northwestern University, and Louis will be the first of his children to play football at the collegiate level.