The newest all-time leading scorer of the South Alabama Jaguars played his high school football in Daphne, Alabama.

With a field goal and two extra points in the season opener, Diego Guajardo surpassed Aleem Sunanon for first place on South Alabama’s all-time scoring list with 244 total points on 45 field goals and 109 extra points.

Sunanon previously set the record in his career from 2013-15 where he finished with 240 points on 49 field goals and 93 extra points. His 49 career field goals also remain a school record, for now.

Guajardo has twice been named All-Sun Belt Conference during his time as a Jaguar and also owns the school record for longest field goal with a 54-yarder against Georgia Southern on Oct. 29, 2020. The school record for career extra points made also belongs to Guajardo with 109 and counting.

The Lou Groza Award named Guajardo to its preseason watch list after he finished last season as one of 20 semifinalists for the award given to college football’s best placekicker in the nation.

Coming out of Daphne High School in the Class of 2019, Guajardo was ranked a 5-star kicker by Khol’s Kicking and checked in as the 39th-ranked prospect in the nation for his class.

The Alabama Sports Writers Association thrice named Guajardo all-state, including an honorable mention punter position as a sophomore, an honorable mention kicker spot as a junior and a second-team selection as a punter his senior season.

As a true freshman in Mobile, Guajardo served as South Alabama’s kickoff specialist but managed 1 field goal and 4 extra points. He handled all kicking duties as a sophomore and racked up 13 field goals and 24 extra points to be named second-team all-league by Pro Football Focus.

As a third-year sophomore, Guajardo handled all of the Jaguars’ placekicking duties and led the team in scoring with 69 points on 12 field goals and 33 extra points which had him fifth in the Sun Belt’s field goals per game rankings.

Last season as a fourth-year junior, Guajardo was tied for the conference lead in field goals (18) and field goal percentage (94.7%). Additionally, his 46 extra points not only set the single-season school record for most PATs made in a season but also pushed his season total to 100 points and set another school record for single-season scoring.

After his five-point performance in Saturday’s opener, Guajardo’s 244 points earned him a four-point advantage over Sunanon in second place according to stats in this year’s media guide. Following them on South Alabama’s all-time scoring list includes kicker Gavin Patterson (204 points), running back Kendall Houston (174 points) wide receiver Kawaan Baker (162 points) and running back Xavier Johnson (162 points).

The Jaguars are scheduled to return home this weekend for a contest against Southeastern Louisiana at Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile on Saturday, Sept. 9, at 4 p.m.