KOLD News 13Zendejas Pac-10 Special Teams POTW

Zendejas Pac-10 Special Teams POTW

Posted By Damien Alameda – bio | email

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. - Sophomore place kicker Alex Zendejas has been named the Pac-10 Special Teams Player of the Week, the league office announced on Monday.

Zendejas scored all six of Arizona's second half points on a pair of fourth quarter field goals, including the game-winner as time expired to defeat Arizona State, 20-17, last Saturday in Tempe, Ariz. The game-winning kick by Zendejas followed two earlier special teams plays that helped give the Wildcats a second-consecutive Territorial Cup victory.

The Zendejas boot was set up by Mike Turner's recovery of a muffed punt at the ASU 22-yard line with 1:03 remaining in the game. After three rushing plays to run the clock out and position the ball in the middle of the field, Zendejas hit the 32-yarder.

Earlier in the fourth quarter, Zendejas kicked a 30-yard field goal to re-extend UA's lead to a seven point margin, 17-10, after ASU scored a touchdown.

In the second quarter, with UA leading 7-0, Orlando Vargas blocked a punt, recovered the loose football and returned it 23 yards for a touchdown to give the Wildcats a two touchdown lead. It marked UA's first blocked punt returned for a touchdown since the 2002 season when Lamon Means accomplished the feat against California.

On the season, Zendejas has connected on 17-of-22 field goal attempts and hit 35-of-38 PAT tries. He has totaled 86 points, which are just three shy of tying his uncle Max Zendejas for the 10th-most in single season history at UA.

Zendejas is averaging 7.82 points per game, a figure that ranks No. 7 amongst all players in the Pac-10 in 2009. In 2007, Jason Bondzio became the first UA kicker to reach the 100-point plateau for points scored in a season. Zendejas could become the second if his per-game figures hold up in the final regular season game and bowl game.

The Wildcats (7-4, 5-3 Pac-10) travel to Los Angeles to take on the No. 20 USC Trojans (8-3, 5-3 Pac-10) in the LA Memorial Coliseum on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m. (PT).