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AFNORTH quarterback E.J. Ruiz couldn’t be brought down by just a hand on his jersey Saturday. The junior quarterback ran for two touchdowns and threw for three more, leading the Lions past Vicenza 42-7.

AFNORTH quarterback E.J. Ruiz couldn’t be brought down by just a hand on his jersey Saturday. The junior quarterback ran for two touchdowns and threw for three more, leading the Lions past Vicenza 42-7. (Kent Harris / S&S)

AFNORTH quarterback E.J. Ruiz couldn’t be brought down by just a hand on his jersey Saturday. The junior quarterback ran for two touchdowns and threw for three more, leading the Lions past Vicenza 42-7.

AFNORTH quarterback E.J. Ruiz couldn’t be brought down by just a hand on his jersey Saturday. The junior quarterback ran for two touchdowns and threw for three more, leading the Lions past Vicenza 42-7. (Kent Harris / S&S)

Vicenza quarterback Micky Stoner gets set to throw on the run Saturday during his team’s 42-7 loss to AFNorth.

Vicenza quarterback Micky Stoner gets set to throw on the run Saturday during his team’s 42-7 loss to AFNorth. (Kent Harris / S&S)

VICENZA, Italy — Four games into the season and no one has figured out how to stop the AFNORTH football team.

A 16-hour bus ride and an unbeaten Vicenza squad playing its homecoming game weren’t enough Saturday as the Lions romped 42-7.

"You’re playing a team for homecoming, they’re fired up and they are used to winning," said AFNORTH coach Greg Blankenship, setting the scene for the opening kickoff. "You want to get off to a fast start."

Blankenship couldn’t have planned it better. The kick landed between the first and second rows of Vicenza players set up to receive the ball and took a bounce away from the nearest Cougar.

Brock Blankenship, the coach’s son and starting running back, pounced on it at the 27-yard line. Six plays later, quarterback E.J. Ruiz connected with James Perea on an 8-yard touchdown pass and the Lions were on their way.

"We could never recover," Vicenza coach Adam Ridgley said. "And we didn’t have an answer for Ruiz, Blankenship and Perea on either offense or defense all day."

Ruiz, an All-European wrestler at 140 pounds, isn’t the prototype quarterback.

The junior from Dallas would have a hard time seeing over the line if he just dropped back and threw the ball.

"He’s 5-4," coach Blankenship said. "Really, he’s 5-4."

It didn’t matter how tall he was Saturday, though. After a Vicenza turnover, Ruiz capped a five-play drive with a 1-yard sneak over the goal line and it was 14-0. The Cougars punted and Ruiz took the first snap from the 50 and sprinted toward his sideline.

He rounded the corner and didn’t stop until he had scored. That made it 20-0 with 4 minutes and 14 seconds left in the opening quarter.

Ruiz finished with two scores rushing and three passing. Perea caught two of those TD passes and Kyle Higgins snagged the other. Blankenship, who hammers defenses while Ruiz runs around them, added a 19-yard touchdown in the third quarter.

Ruiz ran for 152 yards and threw for 145, and Blankenship rushed for 104 yards.

The Lions outgained the Cougars 550-162. They dominated just about every category, including penalties. AFNORTH was whistled 11 times for 115 yards compared with Vicenza’s two times for 20.

Vicenza quarterback Micky Stoner, his team’s leading rusher with 61 yards, scored the Cougars’ touchdown on a 7-yard keeper in the second quarter.

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Kent has filled numerous roles at Stars and Stripes including: copy editor, news editor, desk editor, reporter/photographer, web editor and overseas sports editor. Based at Aviano Air Base, Italy, he’s been TDY to countries such as Afghanistan Iraq, Kosovo and Bosnia. Born in California, he’s a 1988 graduate of Humboldt State University and has been a journalist for 40 years.

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