Sunia Maafu & Luis Rodriguez Earn SCFA Player of the Week Awards

By Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director

College of the Canyons freshmen Sunia Maafu and Luis Rodriguez have both earned Southern California Football Association (SCFA) National Division Player of the Week honors for their respective performances against Fullerton College in week two. 

Maafu is the SCFA National Division Defensive Player of the Week, while Rodriguez is the Special Teams/All Purpose Player of the Week. Both were key contributors in the Cougars 29-13 road victory at Fullerton on Sept. 14. 

Maafu ended his night with two sacks and a team-high eight total tackles. Included in that number were five solo stops for the freshman linebacker out of Clearwater Central High School in Florida. That effort helped the Cougars' defense hold Fullerton to just 163 total yards of offense. 

Rodriguez also had a big night for the Cougars by going a perfect 5-of-5 on field goals (36, 32, 37, 27, 42) with four coming in the first half. His final attempt in the fourth quarter went for a long of 42 and capped the road victory for COC. The freshman out of Verdugo Hills High School also converted on both PATs and handled kickoff duties with eight kicks for 453 yards for an average of 56.6 per, with one touchback.

Canyons is currently ranked No. 14 in the state according to the most recent JC Athletic Bureau head coaches poll released Sept. 17.

Up next, the Cougars remain on the road at No. 24 Palomar College for a scheduled 2 p.m. kickoff Saturday, Sept. 21.

Stay up to date on all this season's action by following the College of the Canyons Athletic department on social media at @COCathletics on X, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. 

—Graphic courtesy of SCFAfootball.com