Humboldt Bounces Back As Caden Matson Leads The Offense
Caden Matson has made the most of his first season leading the Humboldt offense. Through six games, Matson and the Wildcats sit at 4-2 with a home game vs. Gilbert on the docket for Friday night. The junior has showed…
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Continue ReadingCaden Matson has made the most of his first season leading the Humboldt offense.
Through six games, Matson and the Wildcats sit at 4-2 with a home game vs. Gilbert on the docket for Friday night.
The junior has showed off his incredible skills from the quarterback position, completing almost 65 percent of his passes for 884 yards with six touchdowns. Matson is averaging over 12 yards per completion.
Along with all of that, though, he is also a talented runner, having carried the ball 102 times for 677 yards with 12 trips to the end zone. Matson leads Humboldt in all three categories.
“We’re really excited going into upcoming practices,” Matson said. “There’s a lot of energy and confident around our team right now and I think we’re going to have a great week of practice.”
Much of that comes following a 21-14 victory over Mason City last Friday.
Matson helped orchestrate a pair of fourth quarter touchdown drives, finishing with all three scores on the ground. He completed 13 of 20 for 174 yards with 134 yards rushing on 27 carries.
“It felt great to get back into the win column,” he said. “We had a really tough last two weeks where we faced two really good teams and came up short in both, so this will be a very good confidence-booster.”
Humboldt gave Top-10 and district champion Webster City everything it could handle last month, falling 21-14. They also dropped a 31-14 decision at Ballard. In those two games, Matson accounted for 243 yards passing, 194 yards rushing and three TDs.
Last year, Matson saw some time under center, throwing for 125 yards with another 103 on the ground. But over the offseason, he went to work hard on learning the playbook and gaining the trust of his coaches.
“The confidence the coaches have shown in me throughout the year has helped me grow tremendously,” he said. “I am able to ready the defense and call plays based on what I see and it’s helped me understand so much more than I ever have before.”
The Wildcats have clinched their first season finishing at least .500 or better since 2014 when they went 8-2. Matson feels the schedule they have gone through has prepared them for what is to come.
“I feel like we’re very battle-tested and ready for anything anybody can throw at us,” he said. “Obviously you know what you’re getting with Webster City, but it will help us a lot being able to see and play against Ballard and Mason City.
“It just gave us a better picture of what we have to do.”