NEW LONDON, Texas — Nobody was stopping West Rusk quarterback Andon Mata on Friday night. It was a nightmare matchup for the Sabine Cardinals defense, as the scoreboard kept lighting up in favor of the West Rusk Raiders.
Mata finished with 382 yards passing and four touchdowns. In addition, he rushed for two more touchdowns, bringing his game total to over 400 all purpose yards and six touchdowns. Mata's performance led the Raiders to a big 55-7 victory.
As a result, Andon Mata has earned the honors of our Week 2 Player of the Week. But Mata is incredibly humble, and emphasized right away how grateful he was for his teammates and the talent around him.
"If I’m going to be honest, I honestly just think that I’m filling in for the offense here. As a whole, the offense played amazing," Mata said. "The offensive line didn’t let me get touched, there wasn't any pass rush. And our receivers… the amount of yards after catch by our receivers was insane.”
The Raiders started off the season with a tough loss to Malakoff. As a result, they needed to bounce back in a big way Week Two to get their season back on track. Head Coach Nick Harrison praised Mata for executing the game plan to perfection and even more.
"Coming off that first loss of the season, you want to see how your kids respond. And Andon did a great job. But not just him, the offensive line did a great job giving him time. And he was able to step up and make the throws when needed," said Harrison. "Running the ball, throwing the ball. He made all the right reads and it really showed on Friday night.”
Next up, Mata and the Raiders will take on Mineola as the team look to keep up the positive momentum.