Since taking over the starting kicking job in place of the injured Rob Beard@@CE@@, sophomore Alejandro Maldonado@@CE@@ has proven to be more than an adequate replacement in 2011. The 5-foot-10, 198-pound@@CE@@ Maldonado has tallied the third most@@CE@@ points for the Ducks this season with 55@@CE@@ — trailing only De’Anthony Thomas and LaMichael James@@CE both@@ — and has connected on 3 of 5@@CE@@ field goal attempts, with his only misses coming from 47 and 52 yards out, respectively@@CE WSU, Cal@@. The Emerald spoke with the Colton, Calif.,@@CE@@ native after practice this week to see how the season has been treating him.
ODE: Kind of a big week for you going up to Washington, a school you committed to before coming here. You’ve got to be excited about going up there.
AM: Yeah, I’m really excited. I want to go up there and just do my job and hopefully come back with a win.
Looking back on that decision, what stood out to you about Oregon@@okay reference since it’s quoted?@@ that made you decommit?
The atmosphere, the players, just the way we communicated. The way we connected was really good compared to Washington.
Was there anything specific about the facilities or the players that put it over the top?
The facilities are great, they’re amazing here. They’re probably the best facilities out there in the country.
You have a few guys from your high school team (redshirt freshman linebacker Derrick Malone@@CE@@ and true freshman linebacker Rodney Hardrick@@CE@@) who came to Oregon as well. How’s that working out for you guys?
It’s cool. I’ve known Derrick since middle school and Rodney since high school. We all connect, we talk all the time. It makes it a lot easier.
You guys must have had a pretty solid squad at Colton High School. Was that the case?
It was great. Every year we had good players coming up, and we have a couple guys out there right now at (Division) I@@emerald style?@@ colleges.
You played a little safety there, right? Or were you mostly just kicking by high school?
Just kicked. Freshman year (I) played a little bit of running back, but that’s about it.
Do you ever miss playing other positions or has kicking always kind of been your thing?
Standing back and watching the other guys play, it’s not a bad view, but I don’t miss it, no.
Did you play any other sports in high school?
Soccer, and I ran a little bit of track.
Did you play soccer all four years?
I stopped playing soccer at the end of my sophomore year to focus on football and kicking.
As far as school goes, are you still focusing on sports marketing?
No, I switched it up to family and human services.
Why?
I don’t know, I just kind of liked the way it balanced out with football.
What do you want to do with that after football?
I’m not sure. I just declared this year. I’m gonna meet up with my adviser soon and talk about all that.