Football: Ruiz's 5 FGs help keep Williams Field perfect

September 23, 2016 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365


There is no such thing as a perfect football game, but Williams Field came awfully close to posting one Friday night.

Alabama-bound place kicker Brandon Ruiz kicked a school-record five field goals and the offense and defense were in harmony as Williams Field topped Campo Verde, 43-14, in the 5A San Tan Region opener for the schools at Campo Verde HS.

Both teams entered the contest 5-0, but Williams Field showed separation from Campo Verde with its performance.

Facts that tell the story -- Williams Field (6-0) was not whistled for one penalty in the game. Its defense came up with four turnovers (two fumbles and two interceptions). Three of the turnovers led to 17 points and the final one stopped Campo Verde's final scoring drive inside the Williams Field 10.

And its offense piled up 289 yards in the first half en route to a 27-7 lead. Ruiz made sure that stalled drives in each half ended with points five times from his strong, right leg. Ruiz booted field goals from 22, 37, 40, 44 and 45 yards. Williams Field ripped off eight plays that gained 24 yards or more. That negated what was at times a stingy Campo Verde run defense.

Ruiz's five FGs were the attention-getter of the game along with 10 kickoffs that sailed in or out of the end zone. All were appreciated by Williams Field coach Steve Campbell.

"He's a weapon," Campbell said. "He takes stress of the team. His kickoffs all are in the end zone. In high school football the kickoff is a stressful thing."

Not for Williams Field. Campo Verde coach Max Ragsdale was aware of how adept Williams Field is on special teams and saw it first hand. The Coyotes (5-1) had to respect Wiiliams Field when theykicked off or punted with the skill players the Blackhawks possess. Most of the night that meant kicking short and punting away from return specialists.

"They are a good, well-coached team," Ragsdale said. "They run faster than us ,and we had some broken coverages. This was more about us. We didn't answer the bell in this one."

Despite poor field position on its first two drives (starting from its 15 and then its 7), Williams Field scored on both -- Ruiz's first field goal and the first of three Zack Shepherd touchdown passes.That first one was 25 yards to wide out Max Fine that made it 10-0 early in the second quarter.

The next 10 points belonged to Williams Field thanks to its defense. They recovered a fumble at  the Campo Verde 31. On on the next play Shepherd hit Fine for six points from 31 yards out. An interception two plays after the kickoff by linebacker Braden Valentine set Williams Field up at the CV 30. Ruiz nailed his 45-yard field goal a few plays later to make it 20-0.

Campo Verde closed to within 20-7 scoring on a 35-yard pass from quarterback EJ Galvez to wide receiver Riley Langton with 1:04 left to halftime. Williams Field answered in four plays with just 19 seconds left in the half on Shepherd's' third TD pass -- 25 yarder to Justis Stokes for a 27-7 lead at the break.

Shepherd, a sophomore, completed 12 of 19 passes for 238 yards in the first half and finished with 246 yards. Fine caught five passes in the first half for 100 yards. including juggling battle with a defender at the goal line that he finally clutched for his second TD. Running back Josh Alexander added 70 yards rushing and 32 receiving in the first half. Stokes had four catches for 66 yards in the opening half.