The Herald’s 2023 Football Player of the Year: Kolton Matson

LAKE STEVENS — Kolton Matson’s 2023 football season was one for the story books and the record books.

The crafty junior quarterback made everything look like easy as he helped engineer Lake Stevens’ run towards a second consecutive Class 4A state championship, and he racked up numerous accolades along the way.

The Vikings offense was in safe hands this season with Matson under center. He seemed to get even better with each drive he spearheaded, and he still has another year to prove it again.

Matson is in a rare position, having started at QB in the state title game each of the last three seasons with a chance to run it back for a fourth. When asked about the feeling of coming back home from Husky Stadium holding more hardware for the Lake Stevens trophy case, he had to let it soak in.

“Shoot. … It took me a second,” Matson said. “Going out my freshman year and losing, and going back my sophomore year with the mindset that we couldn’t lose. But, this year especially, just having that mindset again. I’m a really competitive type of person, I don’t sit well with losing. Over the course of the year, I’ve been learning to control that aspect of my game. … Going back and winning it again, it was a great deal.”

The postseason script couldn’t have fit better for Matson and the Vikings, as they outscored teams 218-34 during their playoff run.

To make things even sweeter, they knocked off their 2022 state title opponent Kennedy Catholic in a 44-21 beatdown in the quarterfinals and topped it off by beating first-seeded Graham-Kapowsin in a more-than-convincing 31-6 victory, a team that had bested the Vikings in the 2021 title game. The run made Lake Stevens the first 4A school to earn back-to-back state crowns in over a decade.

Matson, a three-star recruit rated as the No. 13 overall junior recruit in the state by 247sports, dealt out a school-record 49 touchdowns throws and 3,338 passing yards with a 66.9% completion rate. He threw just six interceptions and added 227 yards and five TDs rushing, helping lead Lake Stevens to a 13-1 overall record.

For his efforts and historical campaign, Matson is the Herald’s 2023 All-Area Football Player of the Year.

Whether it was trudging through the regular season en route to a 10th straight Wesco 4A title or blowing out other top 4A squads in the state tournament, Matson didn’t shut off his motor.

“He earned things the right way,” head coach Tom Tri said. “He’s been a tremendous leader for us on and off the field, huge progression. He’s been in the state championship game for three years in a row now, I don’t think there’s many quarterbacks in the state that can say that. The progression has come because he earned it. (He’s) always one of the first guys in the weight room and one of the last to leave.”

As Lake Stevens entered the season with a brand new lineup of receivers outside of returning senior David Brown, Matson clicked with the group almost instantly.

Seven different players reeled in at least 250 total yards on the year with Matson as the signal caller, and having the unit mesh so seamlessly was one of the things he took pride in.

“It’s been a journey, just a successful year for all of us,” Matson said. “I could go on and on, all these guys have the ability to get out here and do it. We had a lot of depth and a lot of seniors who didn’t have that varsity experience yet but could still play the game. Myself as a quarterback, having to lead these guys and getting them to the moral aspect of them knowing they can have the ability to play this game at a high level, that was a big deal.”

As the connection with his wide receivers continued to develop, it led to many headaches for opposing defenses as Matson had weapons at his disposal all around the field.

“I see him before and after practice working on routes, timing and execution with his receiver group, doing man-on-man versus zone routes,” Tri said. “He really has put the work in, but he’s also tremendously talented. Great arm strength, really good feet, just a very balanced quarterback.

“As a play-caller, it makes it easy when you have a guy that can do all those things, because it puts stress on a defense to have to cover everybody. … All of our guys could run routes and catch the ball, and that (bred) some confidence with Kolton. He didn’t have to throw it into double coverage to his best receiver, he just read the field and found open guys and trusted that they could take care of the ball.”

The 6-foot-2, 190-pounder was a constant highlight reel throughout the fall, dancing in and around the pocket as he pinpointed targets and showed his ability to drive the ball down the field.

Matson’s arm strength was clearly evident, but his elusiveness in the backfield and ability to consistently make the right reads set him apart.

“You’re never going to go broke making a profit,” Tri said. “The idea of hitting the open receiver and trusting that they’ll go get some (yards after the catch) for you, the more he’s bought into that concept, the more success he’s had. He’s had three years of understanding our offense and now he knows it so well that he can really focus on coverages and defensive body language.”

His creativity seemed to be on full display in each big moment the Vikings faced, and in the state title game, it certainly was.

Matson rattled off four TDs and 231 yards passing against the Eagles, including a 3-yard bullet in a tight end-zone window to Brown near the end of the third quarter after maneuvering out of trouble and throwing it across his body.

Similar plays have become a normal occurrence for the junior, and he isn’t quite done.

“I’m definitely blessed to be here for the last three years,” Matson said. “As a junior, and still having another year to rally with my boys again … just blessed. I couldn’t be more proud of the community I have around me.”