Lindbergh sophomore quarterback Matt Stuart is "the real deal," according to opposing coach

RENTON — Matt Stuart dreamed of the day he would become Lindbergh High School's starting quarterback.

He had no idea how quickly that day would come.

Always big for his age, Stuart never got to play tackle football in any youth programs. So the only place he got to show off his strong arm — he can throw a football 70 yards — was in a flag football league, and on the baseball diamond, which was his first love, anyway.

Just suiting up with the junior varsity as a freshman would be a thrill after all the years of traipsing around the athletic fields with his father, Jeff, the school's former athletic director and longtime girls basketball coach.

Then 15 minutes before getting on the bus for the second game of the season, coach Pat O'Grady told 14-year-old Matt he was starting.

"It shocked me," Stuart said. "I teared up a little bit, actually."

Derek Herley, a converted receiver who started the first game, had some last-minute personal issues and wasn't available.

Stuart had an inauspicious start. He threw to the wrong receiver on his first attempt and hit him in the back. But it wasn't long before he made up for the mistake, hooking up with Diondre Toms on a 42-yard touchdown pass.

The job was Stuart's to keep. Herley ultimately went back to receiver and the Eagles went on to enjoy their best season in school history, reaching the 3A state quarterfinals before losing to Liberty of Issaquah in three overtimes.

At 6 feet 4 and 220 pounds, Stuart didn't look like a freshman, "and he didn't play like one either," teammate Bakari Davis said.

"He's like a college quarterback," Toms said.

Stuart, now an inch taller and 20 pounds heavier with a shoe size of 15, wound up throwing for more than 1,500 yards with 24 touchdown passes. But he also was intercepted 19 times. Five of those came in his first three games. Six came in the last one, which ate at him for quite a while.

Still, the season was more than he ever could have imagined.

"It was probably the best sports experience of my life by far," he said.

Both his parents have coached — Chris was the girls basketball coach at Kentlake before she and Jeff divorced — and his even-keeled personality is an asset at quarterback.

"I don't ever see him get really, really excited and I don't ever see him get really, really down," Chris said.

Jeff, who played quarterback at Eastern Washington, was impressed with the poise his son showed under pressure. A 3.8 student who turns 16 at the end of this month, Matt learns quickly and is reading defenses much better than last year.

"He's so talented and he's nowhere near his ceiling," assistant coach Matt Leamer said.

That's what opposing coaches fear.

"He's the real deal," Hazen's Drew Oliver said. "It's scary to think he's only going to be a sophomore."

Lindbergh dropped to 2A this year, and the Eagles hope to build on last year's success.

"We all feel if we don't win state, it's going to be a disappointment," Stuart said.

Sandy Ringer: 206-718-1512 or sringer@seattletimes.com