SAN DIEGO — Emiliano Salazar was named the Pioneer Football League's Special Teams Player of the Week and Zamar Reese was named its Freshman of the Week on Sunday, the league announced, for their performances in San Diego's 40-17 win at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa, on Saturday.
Salazar, a junior kicker and punter, made a career-high four field goals in five attempts, all from 40 yards or longer, and went 4-for-4 on extra points for 16 points. He made a 43-yarder for a 10-3 lead in the second quarter, kicks of 42 and 41 yards in the third quarter and a 40-yarder for a 33-10 lead with 5:42 to play. He also averaged 57.1 yards on nine kickoffs with three touchbacks.
The four makes from 40 yards or longer were one more than Salazar had in San Diego's first nine games of 2026 combined. He is 13-for-19 on field goals this season and has made all 76 extra points he has attempted in his career. The award is the fourth of his career and his second this season. He also won it on Sept. 20 for his game-winning field goal at Cal Poly, and he was the PFL's Special Teams Player of the Year in 2025. Salazar is from Orange, California, and played at Villa Park High School.
Reese, a freshman running back, ran 11 times for 88 yards and a touchdown, averaging 8.0 yards per carry. On the 15-play, 75-yard drive that put the Toreros ahead for good in the second quarter, he ran 9 yards on third-and-10 and converted the fourth-and-1 with a 3-yard run. He picked up another third-and-1 on the touchdown drive before halftime, then carried on all three plays of a 61-yard drive in the fourth quarter, the last a 52-yard touchdown run on third-and-1 with 2:18 left for a 40-10 lead.
Reese's 88 yards were more than two-thirds of the 126 he had in San Diego's first nine games, and he has 214 rushing yards and two touchdowns this season. He is the first Torero named PFL Freshman of the Week this season. Reese is from San Marcos, California, and played at San Marcos High School.
San Diego (5-5, 4-3 PFL) beat Drake (3-7, 3-4 PFL) for the first time since 2022. The Toreros have six PFL weekly honors this season, and this is the second straight week two Toreros have been honored together. Quarterback Dom Nankil and outside linebacker Jaden Williams were the Offensive and Special Teams Players of the Week on Nov. 1, giving San Diego the special teams award in back-to-back weeks, and cornerback CJ Castille was the Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 4.
UP NEXT
San Diego is off this week, then closes the regular season against Stetson on Saturday, Nov. 21, at 5 p.m., which will be Senior Night at Torero Stadium.
