Herriman's Brandon Farmer doing damage on the ground

If you looked at Herriman's box score for its' 56-7 win against Hillcrest this week, you might have been wondering: "What happened to Francis Bernard? And who is Brandon Farmer?"

Answers to both questions: The Mustangs' big-bodied rusher Bernard was taking the week off from playing running back, instead playing just a handful of defensive snaps to stay fresh for the rest of region play.

His replacement, Brandon Farmer, was the one putting up ridiculous numbers for Herriman.

On only seven carries, Farmer, a 5-foot-8, 165-pound back, rushed for 229 yards and two touchdowns. The 80-yard and 86-yard scores he had in the game are a reflection of his main strength: breakaway speed.

"We've known since he was a freshman that he was a talented kid," coach Larry Wilson says. "He has that extra gear that all running backs have. Sometimes it's on cutbacks, or hitting the crease or getting the edge, but whatever it is, when he gets through he can just accelerate."

Farmer started as a returner, but has gradually been worked into the running game the last few weeks with progressively better and better outings. In the last three games, he's put up 483 yards on 30 carries — a 16.1 ypc average — and scored four touchdowns.

Obviously, this also has made the offensive line feel pretty good, too. Herriman has quickly vaulted out to a 4-1 record with one of the top rushing offenses in the state.

"We've been real pleased with the progress of our offensive line," Wilson says. "We still need to clean up some things and bring the same consistency of effort, but we take a whole lot of pride in being able to spring our running backs loose."

Herriman will line up against Skyline this weekend. Last year, the Eagles clipped the Mustangs in a 27-26 comeback, and Wilson admits that the memory still stings.

"No discredit to anyone else, but we did a lot of things wrong in that game, and Skyline was able to capitalize on it," he says. "We've got to play a whole lot better than last year."

— Kyle Goon

kgoon@sltrib.com

Twitter: @kylegoon