Matt Molina, a Santa Barbara native who played high school football for Dos Pueblos before starring for Santa Barbara City College the past two seasons, has signed a National Letter of Intent to continue his football career at Division I FCS Long Island University in Brookville, New York. Molina was named the Vaqueros' Most Valuable Lineman in 2019 after recording five sacks and 11 tackles for a loss in nine games last season.
Molina is the 17th Vaquero from the 2019 team to commit to continue their career on the next level.
"It's a change from Santa Barbara," said Molina in a Zoom broadcast of his signing. "It's more city, more big houses. But it looks like they have a good business program. It's a good school and I'm excited for it. Super excited."
Molina joined the Vaqueros after a standout career at Dos Pueblos High School and made an immediate impact with the Vaqueros. Molina's first career tackle was a sack in his first game for an eight-yard loss against Compton in the Vaqueros opening game of the 2019 season.
"I'm really proud of Matt; he's a great success story," said Craig Moropoulos, who just completed his 13th season as SBCC's Head Football Coach.
The 6'4" 236 pound lineman continued to improve from there and his impact grew as his freshman season continued. In each of the final seven games of his freshman season, Molina had at least four tackles in each game. He ended the season on a high note with a career-high 11 tackles, including 1.5 for a loss and a forced fumbled in the final game of the season against Pasadena City College. He finished the season with 43 tackles and 4.5 sacks.
Molina cited attending SBCC as a key to his development both on and off the field.
"Coming to City College helped my work ethic on the field and outside of the field," said Molina. "I got a lot of good coaching. I had good coaches in high school and SBCC has such a great staff and taught me so many skills on the field that I didn't have in high school. I got better on the field and off the field too."
After the season, Molina's excellence was widely recognized. He was the only Vaquero freshman voted to First-Team All American-Pacific Defense when he was a unanimous selection on the defensive line. Molina then became the only Vaquero freshman to be voted to the CCCAA All-State Region 4 team.
"Matt was a very consistent 'edge' rusher for us this season," said Moropoulos at the time of Molina's honor. "The local product became a force during conference with 4.5 sacks and was a unanimous selection all-conference pick. Athleticism and extremely high character are among Matt's strongest attributes which make him a strong asset for next season's squad."
In 2019, Molina had a nearly identical season as a sophomore, with slight increases in his output across the board. He finished his sophomore season with 45 tackles, five sacks and 10.5 tackles for a loss. His high for tackles in a game was eight, which he accomplished twice, including an effort against LA Harbor in which he had seven solo tackles.
"Matt was a great player for us and an even better person," said Moropoulos. "Matt's family has always been very strong and has always been high character and Matt was no different. Now he's taking that to Long Island. There will be a little bit of Vaq in him, a little bit of Charger and now he'll be a Shark."
Long Island University just completed their first season as a NCAA Division I FCS school in 2019 after being one of the top Division II football schools in the region for years. LIU had won 18 division titles on the Division II level, including four in the last 10 years. LIU now competes in the Northeast Conference.
