Maricopa running back Matt Fierros runs for a few of his 279 yards against Phoenix Bourgade Catholic on Sept. 7.

Brant Clinard, Tribune

Just two weeks after carrying the ball a school-record 31 times for 207 yards in a season-opening win, Maricopa running back Matt Fierros’ workload was greatly reduced last Friday night.

Sort of.

On just 14 carries, Fierros ran for 279 yards and five touchdowns to lead the host Rams to a wild 45-40 win over visiting Phoenix Bourgade Catholic (1-2).

“I expected a good season,” he said. “But I never expected how it’s going right now.

“It says (online) I’m first in the state in rushing,” he added, noting his three-game totals of 573 yards on 53 carries as listed on Maxpreps.com, a nationwide network of pages devoted tracking of rosters, scores and stats of high school sports teams. “I was looking at that (Tuesday), my coaches were showing me that I’m 17th in the nation right now.”

Following the Rams’ season-opening, 20-13 win over Goodyear Estrella Foothills – a game that also saw Fierros finish with a whopping 32 tackles – the senior said the Maricopa coaching staff had mentioned the possibility of Fierros breaking the state record for rushing attempts in a game.

“Coach told me the state record for carries in a game was 47,” Fierros said then, with a laugh. “But I don’t know if that’s going to happen. I don’t really care if it does.”

And that likely wouldn’t be such a bad thing for the Rams if it didn’t.

Fierros averaged not much more than six yards per carry against Estrella Foothills, as he and Maricopa quarterback Will Clemans were charged with continuously pounding at the Foothills defense.

Against Bourgade, however, it was the big play that gave the Rams their scoring ability. Fierros’ five touchdowns came on runs of 23, 30, 65 and 90 yards.

More importantly, Fierros said, is that it gave the Rams their second win of the season in just three outings – quite the feat considering Maricopa hasn’t started any of three seasons prior better than 1-4 overall.

“Last year we were 0-4. The year before that I don’t even remember,” he said. “We’ve never had a winning season, so this feels pretty good.

“But we have work to do.”

With a long season still in front of him, Fierros said he doesn’t want to look too far down the road in making any predictions for the season. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have goals he’s striving for.

“I’m hoping to break the 1,500-yard mark,” he said. As a team we need to win a couple playoff games. Hopefully go further than that.

“We’ve showed we can play with some of the big teams, like Wickenburg,” Fierros added. “It was 24-6, but it was the worst game we’ve played in the last two years, that’s what I thought.”

In the meantime, he shouldn’t be too surprised if the recruiting letters start pouring in.

“I got a letter from Boise State about a couple weeks ago,” Fierros said, noting that earning a college scholarship to play football is one of his personal goals. “If I only get one (offer), of course I’m going to go to that one, but I’d love to go to ASU, honestly.”