Gameday Feature: The Kicking Life

Huynh-Benningfield, Ruiz Put Best Foot Forward for Bobcats

Marcos Ruiz '27 grew up going to Bates football games.

His older brother Ramon Ruiz '21 was a starting defensive lineman for the Bobcats. The elder Ruiz was always in the trenches, doing the dirty work of a nose tackle and colliding with 300-pound offensive linemen every day.

The younger Ruiz is not in the trenches. He's a kicker. And his life on the football field is much different, but perhaps equally as challenging.

As a kid in Haskell, N.J., Marcos Ruiz played a lot of soccer. When his older brother started playing football, Ruiz wanted to follow in his footsteps.

In sixth grade, Marcos was a little small for his age, so his mom told the football coaches he could play, he just couldn't get hit.

There aren't many positions on the football field where getting hit is rare. Luckily Ruiz's soccer background made him a natural fit for the kicking life.

"Believe it or not, I've made a 63-yard field goal in practice," Ruiz said as he and Bates punter Parker Huynh-Benningfield '26 prepared for last week's tilt with rival Colby. "During games, I think my maximum has been about 45 yards."

For context, the longest made field goal in Bates football's 127-year history entering this season is 47 yards.

Through three games at Bates, Ruiz hasn't had a chance to break that record. But he has been automatic so far, making all three of his field goal attempts, with a long of 37.

"To be starting as a first-year, it feels like all the hard work that I put in over the off-season finally paid off," Ruiz said. "I'm just coming out every day trying to maintain a high level of intensity and keep rolling with the flow of things."

Ruiz and Huynh-Benningfield are the first to arrive to practice most days, as they get work in with the long snappers and holders before formal warm-ups begin.

Ruiz works closely with holders (and quarterbacks) Colton Bosselait '25 and Liam Foley '24. Normally, the quarterbacks run things on offense, but when it's time to kick an extra point or field goal, the kicker is in charge. Ruiz is meticulous with his holders on the perfect placement for his kicks.

"We work very hard to ensure that each kick is repeatable, and that if a big game-winning situation were to arise, we would be more than ready for it," Ruiz said. "The thought process behind each kick is that no matter how close or how far, every kick is just an extra point. As a snapper, holder, and kicker, our job is to tune out everything outside of that 1.25 seconds from snap to kick, to zone in on the task at hand."

Meanwhile, Huynh-Benningfield is booming warm-up punts toward the end zone where a collection of offensive linemen have gathered. Offensive tackle Peter Simplicio '24, all 280 pounds of him, jokes that he wants to try punting and attempts to boot a ball back to Parker. It doesn't go very far.

"The key to a good punt is the drop," Huynh-Benningfield says. "You've got to place the ball correctly to drop right on your foot and then after that your body follows it."

Like Marcos, Parker has a soccer background. But in third grade, he fell in love with football. He moved to Texas in ninth grade and was excited for the "Friday Night Lights" experience.

He got it, sort of. Junior year was wiped out by the pandemic, and as a senior, his high school, St. Stephen's Episcopal in Austin, didn't have the numbers for traditional 11-man football. So they played 6-man football. Even playing against small schools, Parker got a good taste of the passion the state has for the sport.

"Week one my senior year, we went to a town of 500 people," Huynh-Benningfield said. "I would say the entire town was there. It was super cool."

He did everything in high school. Parker was a receiver and a defensive back, along with handling the kicking and punting. Punting turned out to be what he was best at, and that's his role now with the Bobcats.

Parker did not play as a rookie in 2022 and missed the first two games of this season with an injury. Now he's healthy, but his mentor, senior punter/kicker Archie Green Jr., is not. Green Jr. got hurt during the Tufts game. Yes, kickers and punters get injured too.

"Archie and I were competing during training camp, but we got a lot closer because we both realized that we make each other much better," Huynh-Benningfield said. "We notice small things watching each other that we don't usually notice when we're the one kicking the ball."

With Green Jr. not at practice, Marcos and Parker hold down the fort. They spend a lot of time "waiting for our names to be called" according to Ruiz.

While they wait, it's a lot of stretching, some spontaneous runs around the field, and chatting on the sideline.

"I try to keep it loose all the time," Huynh-Benningfield said. "You can only be so locked in and so tense and focused for so long before it starts to drive you crazy. Once your name's called, you're on the field, and your helmet's on your head, it's like riding a bicycle."

One way the duo kept things loose and got work done at the same time was in the lead up to the Tufts game. The forecast called for rain, so they prepared Green Jr. the best (and funniest) way they knew how.

"We would snap the ball to him while we poured water on his head and screamed in his ear," Huynh-Benningfield laughs. "We always try to find creative ways to get better."

Head coach Matt Coyne goes over multiple kick-off scenarios at practice. Without Green Jr. there, Ruiz has to kick the ball down the field over, and over, again. He's exhausted by the end.

"That was really tough," Ruiz says. "I need some water."

Who says kickers don't break a sweat?

Marcos Ruiz