HERRIMAN FOOTBALL: Mustangs 31, Highland 14
Herriman wears down Highland
Bernard makes the play
that clinches the win
against coach’s old team
By Bruce Smith
For the Deseret News
For the Herriman
Mustangs to be successful,
either Tueni Lupeamanu or
Francis Bernard have to step
forward.
Friday night, it was
Bernard’s turn.
For one week, he had to
endure a difficult loss that saw
him cut down short of the goal
line. This time, the electric
senior rushed for 132 yards and
returned an interception 33
yards for a score that secured a
31-14 victory for the Mustangs
over Highland.
“(Wearing them down)
was our game plan,” said
Herriman coach Larry Wilson, a
former Highland coach whose
current team had an obvious
depth advantage. “That was
something we emphasized all
week. We ran ‘no huddles,’ and
tried to change the tempo.
“It wasn’t until Francis’s
interception that I started to
breathe easier.”
Wilson was at Highland
from 1996-2000 and enjoyed a
record of 43-14 at the school. He
is in his third season at Herriman
and the Mustangs – now 2-1
overall – have their sights set on
a possible Region 7 title and a 4A
state playoff berth.
With two of 4A’s top
Francis Bernard (top)
intercepts a pass and
races down the
sidelines in front of
the Herriman bench
to clinch the
Mustangs’ victory.
players, plus a cast of others
who made a big difference,
those goals are certainly
possible.
Lupeamanu completed
13 of 19 passes for 105 yards.
More importantly, he connected
on several third-down plays.
Herriman controlled time of
possession, but didn’t control
the game because of Highland’s
big plays.
Page 12
Highland quarterback
Austin Peterson had a nice game
until Bernard’s pick with 3:35
left. Peterson threw for 193
yards, including a 75-yard
scoring toss to Adam Webber
and a 50-yarder to Malcolm
Card-Turner.
Highland may have had a
chance to build an early lead but
Continued on next page
HERRIMAN FOOTBALL: Mustangs 31, Highland 14
Continued from previous page
TOP LEFT: Beau Bequette
numerous penalties in the first quarter destroyed their drives and
Herriman took advantage.
“Don’t even get me talking about the penalties,” said Highland
coach Brody Benson. “They happened … and they made a difference.”
Benson said he felt depth (at one time, Highland had 10 players
on the field who were going both ways) and the Rams’ inability to
establish the fullback up the middle were the reasons for their demise.
Highland is known for being an aggressive “smash-mouth” team, which is
why Wilson called Benson last year to schedule the game.
“I thought that was something we missed,” he said.
This year, they roles were reversed.
The Rams still had 176 yards on the ground, led by Peterson’s 73
yards on 13 carries. However, without strong fullback play, Herriman
eventually strung out the sweeps. The Rams’ 14 points came in the
second quarter, and they were scoreless after that.
Brandon Farmer and Gabe Ruflin were involved in Herriman’s
first two scores and the Mustangs seemed to have all the momentum
until Peterson found Webber alone over the middle for the Rams’
longest play so far this season.
Peterson tried to go deep often, especially to the fleet CardTurner, who caught three passes for 91 yards. Down 24-14 and needed a
big play on fourth down, he tried to find Card-Turner again, but Bernard
stepped in front of the pass and raced down the sidelines to thrill the
home crowd.
Farmer had a great second half and finished with 84 rushing yards
on 11 carries. The Mustangs had 292 yards on the ground.
Page 13
LOWER LEFT: Chris Rowe
TOP RIGHT: Kalisi Moli (No. 68) and Billy
Ward pressure the Highland quarterback.
GAME SUMMARY
Highland
Herriman
0
7
14
10
0
0
0 - 14
14 - 31
HERR – Brandon Farmer 5 run (Josh Heninger
kick)
HERR – Gabe Ruflin 3 pass from Tueni
Lupeamanu (Heninger kick)
HIGH – Adam Webber 75 pass from Austin
Peterson (Mike Kerr kick)
HIGH – Malcolm Card-Turner 50 pass from
Peterson (Kerr kick)
HERR – FG Heninger 27
HERR – Francis Bernard 3 run (Heninger kick)
HERR – Bernard 33 interception return
(Heninger kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Highland – Peterson 14-68,
Webber 6-52, Viliami Sekona 2-20, Isaac
Atkinson 2-18, Jerry Padilla 2-16, Thomas
Pembroke 5-15, Sydney Lauti 2-15. Herriman –
Bernard 16-132, Farmer 11-101, Vuni
Bloomfield 9-91, Lupeamanu 7-29.
PASSING: Highland – Peterson 7-22-1-189
yards. Herriman – Lupeamanu 12-18-1-123
yards.
RECEIVING: Highland – Card-Turner 3-90,
Webber 2-78, Padilla 2-21. Herriman –
Bloomfield 3-37, Canyon Hansen 3-35, Connor
Johnson 3-18, Bernard 2-15, Jordan Drage 1-25,
Ben Richard 1-4, Ruflin 1-3.