Stone Saunders finally got a chance to bask. The singular 6-foot-2, 220-pound Bishop McDevitt senior quarterback has been on a whirlwind tour over the last month. Since winning his second PIAA state championship in the last three years, becoming the state’s No. 1 all-time leading quarterback with 13,719 career yards passing and 204 career touchdowns, surpassing the previous marks held by Steelton-Highspire’s Alex Erby (13,567 yards/175 touchdowns), Saunders has not exactly had time to breathe.
He started classes in December at Kentucky, though plans to return to McDevitt for graduation and the Crusaders’ team banquet to receive his PIAA Class 5A state title championship ring.
On Sunday, Saunders took a break. He received the Pennsylvania Player of the Year award and prestigious Henry Award by the Maxwell Football Club at the Mini Max award ceremony at Drexelbrook.
“It was nice getting this award with a bunch of great athletes in this building, and the great athletes that received this award before me,” Saunders said. “It’s sinking in where I am. The offseason commitment to college football is a little different and you feel the difference right away. I’m getting adjusted to the weight room and classes. I’ll walk in June with my graduation class. The last time I basked to much, we got upset by a team we should not have lost to, and I learned a lot from that. My dad always says, ‘What have you done for me recently?’ I take that seriously. The awards are nice, but there are new things I have to accomplish, and new steps and new challenges in college football now.
“This is nice knowing all the work that was put in my senior season, and it was a great end to the journey. My father and I put a ton of work into the weight room, and coach (Jeff) Weachter and I put a ton of work into the film room. The now it makes an impact at the next level. I think what will resonate with me is all the people, the players, the faculty and the coaches I got a chance to do it with. It was a great experience.”
Saunders’ 204 touchdown passes are No. 3 nationally. Weachter knows Saunders, a four-year starter, will be remembered for quite a long time wearing a McDevitt uniform.
“With me, what a lot of people don’t know, and what will always resonate most with me is how hard Stone worked,” Weachter said. “Stone was blessed with a lot of God-given talent. What gets missed is that he also worked so hard to get there. I remember the spring of his eighth grade year coming out of COVID. We used to Zoom and I would teach him the offense coming out of spring. His freshman year, he packed a lunch and would come down to meet me in my office. We would break down film and do chalkboard. I remember the Thursday before this year’s state championship game, I remember it hit me, it was going to be our last quarterback meeting.”
Weachter and Saunders figured it was roughly around 350 and 400 quarterback meetings that had. A few weeks after beating Roman Catholic, 34-31, in overtime, Saunders left on Dec. 20 for Kentucky, the school he committed to for early enrollment.
“Stone watches a ton of film, he is a real student of the game and he stayed humble through it all,” Weachter said. “Stone has gotten better each year. He willed us the state championship this year. This year, he challenged himself to get bigger and stronger, and worked with his dad to put on 20 pounds and got faster. Each year, I would give him more leeway than in the past.”
After the Maxwell ceremony, Saunders was soon on a plane back to Kentucky, starting the process again.
Joseph Santoliquito is a hall of fame, award-winning sportswriter who has been covering high school football since 1992 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on Twitter @JSantoliquito [twitter.com]. Follow EasternPAFootball.com on Twitter @EPAFootball [twitter.com].
