BY BRIAN GOSSET
Preston Stone threw for 226 yards and three touchdowns leading Northwestern to a 34-7 victory over Central Michigan on Friday in the GameAbove Sports Bowl.
Stone completed 19 of 31 passes.
Northwestern ends the season 7-6.
A 4-star quarterback out of Dallas Parish Episcopal, Stone led the Panthers to back-to-back TAPPS state championships during the 2019 and 2020 seasons. As a freshman in 2017, Stone was a second-team MaxPreps Freshman All-American.
The Panthers capped a 10-1 season in 2020 with a 42-28 win over Nolan Catholic in the state title game. Overall on the season, Stone accounted for nearly 4,000 yards offense (3,429 passing) and 48 touchdowns (38 passing). He was ranked as high as the 5th best dual-threat QB in the nation by 247Sports.
Stone posted over 13,000 passing yards in his career and 145 touchdowns.
He committed and signed his letter of intent with SMU over offers from Alabama, Auburn, Baylor, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Houston, LSU, Miami, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Virginia.
Stone played in nine games during his first two years at SMU before starting in 12 as a redshirt sophomore in 2023. He led the Mustangs with 3,200 yards passing and 28 touchdowns. He received national attention after finishing in the Top 30 in passing yards, touchdowns, passing efficiency and passing yards per completion.
After the stellar 2023 season, Stone named several national preseason watch lists in 2024, but only appeared in seven games with four starts. He is a grad student and in his first season with Northwestern.
He ends the season with 2,400 yards passing and 17 touchdowns.
