William Hammond can’t wait to represent the Hutto Hippos – and the Texas Tech Red Raiders – at the Elite 11 Finals in Los Angeles this week.

He’ll be one of just 20 quarterbacks from across the country competing in the prestigious camp and, quite possibly, the only Eagle Scout.

While football has played an integral part in shaping who Hammond has become, he might not be making this trip to Hollywood had it not been for his time spent as a Scout, and the life lessons it taught him.

“Communication was huge, and that’s something I didn’t really understand at 13 years old,” said Hammond, a DCTF Hot 100 4-star recruit. “Now more than ever, you can apply that to communication on the field, but connection with your teammates is bigger than anything ever. If you are close to somebody, they are going to have trust in you, and you can rely on each other.

“On Friday nights you’re going to trust each other and that’s when a team is pretty dominant.”

Dominant might not be how you’d describe Hutto in 2022 given the Hippos’ 5-5 season, but you could use it to describe how Hammond played as a junior. Hammond threw for 2,763 yards and 30 touchdowns and added 828 yards and 9 scores on the ground - all of which were career highs.

With his father and older brother serving in the Scouts as well, Hammond has taken pride in following in their footsteps while also transitioning the skills he has learned into the person he is today.

“By the time I was born, I think my oldest brother was just starting Cub Scouts,” Hammond remembers. “My dad had his Eagle Scout sash up in a thing in his office for my whole time growing up, so I always thought it was cool asking him questions about it and once I finally became a part of it with all the guys, it was huge.

“I loved it. It’s cool to really understand leadership and how delegation works. It has had a huge impact on my upbringing.”

Hammond became Hutto’s leading rusher (by a large margin) and increased his yards per game by 40.9 yards in 2022. In his first season as head coach, William Compton was impressed with Hammond’s ability to run the ball, and it allowed his system to run the best it could in Year 1.

“We’ve always wanted a dual-threat style quarterback to help our offense go,” Compton said. “Obviously Will is listed as a pro-style guy, but going back and watching the way he runs and his vision with the ball, we knew that we’d be able to be smart with running him but obviously be able to run our offense to full capacity.”

If you thought 2022 was a big year for Hammond, wait and see what he does this season with the likes of Alex Green and an incredibly impressive offensive line. Green, a junior, reeled in 43 receptions for 900 yards and 9 touchdowns while appearing in 9 games in 2022.

Despite losing the next two leading rushers behind Hammond in seniors Jalon Banks (Midwestern State) and Gary Choice III (Navy Track and Field), the Hippo QB is extremely optimistic with his offense’s ability to be dynamic in 2023.

“Starting with the receiving core, we’ve got five studs.” Hammond said. “Our timing is getting down together and our chemistry has grown so much. They’re just freak athletes.

“Our offensive line is the best it’s ever been… so I’m really excited for my protection. Our running back room as well, they’ve all got great hands and they understand what we’re doing.”