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Cejudo getting his kicks with YSU
By Joe Scalzo
YOUNGSTOWN
If you click on Youngstown State’s team page on ESPN.com, a month-old video of Joey Cejudo’s “butt punt” against Illinois will start playing in the right corner.
“The butt punt — it happened, that’s all I can say about it,” Cejudo said, chuckling. “That’s something in the past. I really don’t worry about it. It happened. It sucks. It hurt the team. But I’m over it and I just try to continue my punting and continue my field goals.”
So far, so good. Cejudo is already 8 for 8 on field goals in three games this season after going 6 for 8 last fall.
YSU coach Eric Wolford doesn’t like field goals — one of his favorite sayings is “seven is worth more than three” — but the Penguins have already attempted more field goals this season than in 2012 (6 of 7) and 2011 (3 of 5) and are on pace to surpass the total from Wolford’s first season, when Stephen Blose went 12 of 14.
“You got to get points on the board,” Wolford said. “I still like touchdowns, though. We actively talk about that in our staff meetings, about not having to kick as many field goals.”
Cejudo’s longest field goal this season is 36 yards — his career-long at YSU is 40 yards — but he’s made a 60-yarder in practice. He said he feels comfortable attempting a 62-yarder with the wind at his back and a 55-yarder with no wind.
But, Cejudo said, some of his favorite kicks are 20-yard extra points, where he is 9 of 9 this season and 58 of 60 for his career.
“I told [QB] Dante [Nania] when he was playing against Duquesne, ‘I like the field goals but I want to get a PAT up now,’” he said.
Cejudo is tied for first in the Missouri Valley with a 63.2-yard average on kickoffs, including eight touchbacks in 20 kicks. He is averaging 38.2 yards per punt, which ranks sixth in the 10-team league, and has placed five of his 15 attempts inside the 20.
“Doing all three is a challenge,” said Cejudo, who added punting duties this season after all-conference punter Nick Liste graduated. “It’s definitely a lot of work, a lot of kicking on my leg. But I did it two years ago at my junior college [Mt. San Antonio in Los Angeles]. I just count my reps in practice all the time, keep them low, don’t try to over-kick and trust what I’ve been doing.”
Cejudo is also one of the team’s busiest Tweeters, which is good for YSU since he might also be the team’s most positive Tweeter.
On Wednesday, for instance, he wrote, “[Ever] just sit down and reflect on life? You will realize how many good things you have in life. It’s amazing”
(Note to those people who don’t spend much time reading college football players’ tweets: This is not normal.)
“He’s just a great kid,” Wolford said.
YSU has a strong history with kickers, from NFL kickers such as Paul McFadden and Jeff Wilkins to Liste, who earned a rookie minicamp tryout with the Detroit Lions in May.
McFadden played for the Eagles and Falcons and became famous for his barefooted kicking style, something his son, Connor, has adopted as a sophomore kicker at YSU.
But while Cejudo would love to follow McFadden’s career arc, he’ll try to do it with his shoes on.
“I would never try the shoeless thing,” he said, grinning.