Go west, young quarterback.

Xaverian quarterback Henry Hasselbeck made if official Wednesday morning when he announced he will attend UCLA. The 6-foot-3, 175-pounder comes off a banner season in which he completed 120-of-183 passes for 1,349 yards and 19 touchdowns, while adding 735 rushing yards and 11 more scores, in leading the Hawks to the Div. 1 state title.

“I really connected with the school and the coaching staff,” Hasselbeck said. “Coach (Chip) Kelly is an amazing man and the players talk so highly of him. The connections I made with coach and his staff was amazing and the offense they run is incredible.”

The recruitment ended a whirlwind ride for Hasselbeck, who inititally committed to Maryland on a lacrosse scholaship, then decommitted to accept a football scholarship to Michigan State last June. When the school went through a period of turmoil, Hasselbeck declared in early December he was reopening his recruitment.

“It was a unique situation and I have tremendous respect for each of them,” Hasselbeck said. “Coach (John) Tillman is an amazing man and I would not have wanted to play lacrosse for any coach other than him. Michigan Sttate is a great school, I loved East Lansing and we had a really good group there, but it eventually became a tough situation (head coach Mel Tucker was fired in September) and I was given an opportunity to look elsewhere.”

Initial buzz centered around Boston College, the school where his father (Matt) and uncle (Tim) played quarterback and many of his other family members competed in different sports there. Hasselbeck took a recruiting trip to the Heights two weeks ago, giving locals hope he would stay close to home.

“I love BC, I didn’t miss a home game there this year,” Hasselbeck said. “It was an incredible hard conversation telling coach (Jeff) Hafley I was going to UCLA. He is an incredible man and I know they are going to be doing great things there. I know I will be cheering for them for the next 40 years.”

While BC didn’t land Hasselbeck, they did secure a commitment from his high school teammate, Charlie Comella. A Herald All-Scholastic wide receiver as a junior, Comella’s senior season was limited to one game due to injury. Another Xaverian wide receiver, Jonathan Monteiro, signed with Liberty.

Elsewhere in the Catholic Conference, a trio of Catholic Memorial All-Scholastic football players are heading to major colleges, led by Notre Dame-bound lineman Guerby Lambert. Fellow lineman Brandon Sullivan is going to Harvard, while linebacker Will Claude is going to Merrimack. According to head coach John DiBiaso, the trip will be honored at a school signing ceremony in the spring.

Lambert isn’t the only local headed to South Bend. Westwood’s Joe Vinci, one of the nation’s top long snappers, signed his NLI to attend Notre Dame earlier Wednesday morning.

BB&N tight end Brett Elliott inked his NLI to attend Duke. A two-time All-New England selection, the 6-foot-5, 235-pounder earned Boston Herald All-Scholastic honors after leading his team to the John Papas Bowl title.

Brockton wide receiver Jonathan Monteiro is headed to Pittsburgh. A two-time Herald All-Scholastic, Monteiro caught 26 passes for 451 yards and four scores, while adding 186 rushing yards.

It was a busy day at Dexter Southfield as five football players signed their NLI led by highly-touted defensive lineman Liam Andrews, who committed to Penn State. The rest of the cast included quarterback Joe McCauley (Richmond), offensive lineman Dom Silvia (UNC-Charlotte), wide receiver Darius Day (Bucknell) and wide receiver/defensive back Mike Bonsu (Georgetown).

Where top football stars are going

ALBANY: Jojo Uga (Weston/Worcester Academy)

BOSTON COLLEGE: Charlie Comella (Xaverian)

BROWN: Matt Childs (Medway/Milton Academy)

BUCKNELL: Darius Day (Dexter Southfield), Tariq Thomas (Springfield Central/Williston Northampton)

CENTRAL CONNECTICUT: Sean O’Brien (Walpole/East Coast Prep)

CORNELL: Adam Landry (Newton North/Phillips Andover)

DARTMOUTH: Anthony Ndika (Loomis Chaffee), Kristian Strong (Avon Old Farms)

DUKE: Derrick Brown Jr. (Avon Old Farms), Brett Elliott (BB&N)

GEORGETOWN: Mike Bonsu (Dexter Southfield)

GEORGIA: Ryan Puglisi (Avon Old Farms)

HARVARD: Brandon Sullivan (Catholic Memorial)

KANSAS STATE: Malcolm Alcorn-Crowder (Whitman-Hanson/Butler Community College)

LAFAYETTE: Dominic Selvitelli (Lawrence Academy)

LIBERTY: Jonathan Monteiro (Xaverian)

MAINE: Will Grant (Milton Academy)

MERRIMACK: Will Claude (Catholic Memorial)

NOTRE DAME: Guerby Lambert (Catholic Memorial), Joe Vinci (Westwood)

PENN STATE: Liam Andrews (Dexter Southfield)

PITTSBURGH: Cam Monteiro (Brockton)

PRINCETON: Connor Cronin (Marblehead/Avon Old Farms), Theo Bachelder (Pingree/Hun School)

RICHMOND: Joe McCauley (Dexter Southfield)

SACRED HEART: Matthew DeFeo (Xaverian/Williston Northampton)

SOUTH CAROLINA: Dante Reno (Cheshire Academy)

STONEHILL: Anthony Busa (Xaverian/East Coast Prep), Drew Eason (Methuen), Peter Fiumara (Belmont Hill), Jaylon Hebert (Springfield Central)

STANFORD: Benedict Umeh (Avon Old Farms)

TEXAS A&M: Miles O’Neil (Marblehead/Hun School)

UCONN: Cooper Ackerman (Shrewsbury)

UCLA: Henry Hasselbeck (Xaverian)

UMASS: Keith Sarkodieh (Worcester Academy)

UNC: Zach Gluckman (Avon Old Farms)

UNC-CHARLOTTE: Dom Silvia (Bridgewater-Raynham/Dexter Southfield)

UNH: Dajzuan Johnson (Minnechaug)

USC: Elijah Newby (Cheshire Academy)

VILLANOVA: Chris Colby (Pingree)

VIRGINIA: KeShawn Adams (Avon Old Farms)

WAKE FOREST: Jack Hines (Avon Old Farms)