Quick Facts
Biography
John Matocha is an American football quarterback for the Colorado Mines Orediggers.
Early life and high school
Matocha grew up in Magnolia, Texas and attended Magnolia West High School. As a senior, he completed 66 percent of his passes for 3,441 yards and 38 touchdowns and also rushed for 868 yards and 15 touchdowns.
College career
Matocha became the Colorado Mines Orediggers' starting quarterback two games into his freshman season. He was named first-team All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) and the conference'sOffensive Freshman of the Year after passing for 2,825 yards with 29 touchdown passes and five interceptions while also rushing for 598 yards and 11 touchdowns. Matocha's sophomore season was canceled due to COVID-19.
In 2021, Matocha passed for 3,105 yards and 38 touchdowns and was named the RMAC Offensive Player of the Year. Matocha was also named a first-team Division II football Academic All-American by the College Sports Information Directors of America, since renamed College Sports Communicators (CSC). He repeated as the RMAC Offensive Player of the Year and won the Harlon Hill Trophy as the best player in NCAA Division II in 2022. Matocha finished the season with 4,778 passing yards and 52 touchdown passes. After the season, Matocha was named the Division II football Academic All-American of the Year by CSC, and was later named the Academic All-American of the Year for all Division II sports for the 2022–23 school year.
On November 11, 2023, in the Orediggers' season finale against Fort Lewis, Matocha scored 4 total touchdowns in an 82–0 win, raising his career total to 181, and making him the all-time total touchdowns leader in all of college football.
Statistics
| Season | Games | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Record | Comp | Att | Pct | Yards | Avg | TD | Int | Rate | Att | Yards | Avg | TD | ||
| Colorado Mines Orediggers | |||||||||||||||
| 2019 | 12 | 11–1 | 252 | 342 | 73.7 | 2,825 | 8.3 | 29 | 5 | 168.1 | 145 | 598 | 4.1 | 11 | |
| 2020 | DNP | ||||||||||||||
| 2021 | 14 | 12–2 | 260 | 382 | 68.1 | 3,105 | 8.1 | 38 | 8 | 165.0 | 154 | 492 | 3.2 | 7 | |
| 2022 | 16 | 13–3 | 348 | 506 | 68.8 | 4,778 | 9.4 | 52 | 8 | 178.8 | 133 | 443 | 3.3 | 5 | |
| 2023 | 15 | 14–1 | 333 | 471 | 70.7 | 4,298 | 9.1 | 43 | 7 | 174.5 | 106 | 449 | 4.2 | 5 | |
| Career | 57 | 50−7 | 1,193 | 1,701 | 70.1 | 15,006 | 8.8 | 162 | 28 | 172.4 | 538 | 1,982 | 3.7 | 28 | |