HUTTO, Texas — Will Hammond went to the Elite 11 Finals in late June as an afterthought. The senior quarterback returned home to Central Texas, showing he was right where he belonged.

“It could have been really easy for me to be like, ‘I was one of the last guys invited. They rate me as a three-star [recruit]’, Hammond said. “But when I got there, I said, ‘I’m here for a reason. God’s put me in this position to come out here and perform’.”

The Hutto signal caller turned some heads in California, where the national showcase for high school quarterbacks took place. 

“Focusing on the mental and intellectual aspect while I was there allowed me to be free on the field, be myself and just have a really, really good time,” Hammond said.

It’s the third straight year an Austin-area quarterback went to Elite 11, but Hammond is the first who was also an Eagle Scout.

“It keeps me grounded in something. I think it gives me something that I’ve accomplished,” Hammond said. 

Hammond grew up in Boy Scouts with his brothers. He earned the Eagle Scout ranking in eighth grade by coordinating the painting of about 140 fire hydrants in a new housing development.

“It’s really a leadership project, so I didn’t do anything hands-on,” said Hammond about the project, which was completed in one day. “I was guiding people. Here’s the route map, here’s what we’re doing, here’s the goal, here’s the standard to which we make these fire hydrants look.”

Leading a team and executing a game plan — something that’s pretty familiar to the Hippos’ three-year starter under center. 

“He’s selfless,” said Hutto coach Will Compton. “He’s always complimenting his teammates. He’s always complimenting all the people around him that help him get the success and all the accolades that he gets.”

Which now includes some national notoriety for the Texas Tech recruit.

“One of my biggest takeaways was how they honed in on leadership and how to talk to yourself,” said Hammond of his Elite 11 experience. “That’s something I feel really confident in, and I think it’s helped me to be a better leader.”