IRVINE – Quarterback is a leadership position on any football team.
In high school football, the team leader usually is a senior quarterback.
Waylon Stone is a freshman, and he is a quarterback.
Stone has earned his way to becoming a bona fide leader for Woodbridge’s football team, trailblazing the way as the Warriors have gone from being an 0-7 team to a CIF Southern Section champion and, this week, a team playing for a state championship.
Woodbridge (7-8) plays Redding Christian (14-0) in the CIF State Division 7-AA game Saturday at 11 a.m. at Fullerton High. Woodbridge advanced to the state final with a 13-0 win over San Fernando last week in a CIF Southern California Regional final.
The Warriors have their senior leaders like running back/linebacker David Bosley. A quarterback’s leadership responsibilities start with running the offense and executing the game plan.
Woodbridge quarterbacks coach John Halagan said Stone was able to win over his teammates and fill that role just fine once Stone became the starting quarterback a couple of weeks into the season.
“The way any young player wins over his teammates is, you have to perform,” Halagan said. “It has to be obvious to all that you deserve the downs you are seeing. It was obvious Waylon was that guy.”
Stone has played quarterback since he was a first-grader. He has received training from renowned quarterbacks mentor Danny Hernandez, who instructed Mater Dei alum Bryce Young, who now plays in the NFL for the Carolina Panthers, and many others.
Stone felt he was ready, even as a freshman, to steer the Woodbridge offense.
“I’ve played at a high level since my youth football years,” he said. “I knew I could lead this team. But I definitely had to compete for the job and win these guys over because none of them knew me before this.”
Stone, who is 5-foot-10 and 160 pounds, led by example in Woodbridge’s 24-23 win over Montebello in the CIF-SS Division 13 championship game. He completed 10 of 14 passes for 153 yards and rushed for 137 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries.
When Woodbridge finally got its first win this season, 35-0 over Katella in an Omicron League game, Stone passed for 280 yards and three touchdowns and scored on a 25-yard run.
Halagan, who has been a football assistant coach for many years and also coached the school’s boys basketball program for 28 years, said Stone’s success goes beyond his physical skills.
“He processes things quickly,” Halagan said. “That’s essentially the job description for the quarterback position. He came to us as a fairly polished product.”
Halagan coached Waylon’s father Shea Stone, who was a starting guard for Halagan’s Woodbridge basketball teams in the early 1990s and also played quarterback for the Warriors.
“I hate to use the term ‘chip off the old block,’ ” said Halagan, smiling. “But Waylon and his dad are very similar. Totally selfless and very coachable.”
When Woodbridge was 0-7, Stone remained convinced Woodbridge had what it takes to be a special team.
“We all knew we had a great team,” he said. “We just had to put it together. I knew we had the talent the moment I got here.”
