Panorama football's Brandon Hernandez Villa making noise with his play

PANORAMA CITY — Panorama junior running back Brandon Hernandez Villa saw the hole and took off last week. There was just enough room to fit through, and then he used a burst of speed that left his opponents behind. There was no catching Hernandez Villa, who scored an 83-yard touchdown run on the game's opening drive against Fulton. His style was locomotive. Fast but powerful. Get in his way and Hernandez Villa would lower his shoulder. The sound of cracking pads forces would-be tacklers to make serious decisions. Is it worth it? There wasn't showboating, secret handshakes or TikTok dances by Hernandez Villa after he scored. Just flip the ball back to the referee and return to the sideline. 'I just keep it lowkey,' Hernandez Villa said. 'I don't like to say things. I'm just a sit back, cool guy.' Hernandez Villa leads the state with 16 touchdowns and is averaging 243 rushing yards per game. His combination of size (5-foot-11) is matched with a 40-yard dash time that clocks in between 4.5 and 4.6 seconds. Before he ever played football, Hernandez Villa sat with his mother during a sunny afternoon at the Panorama High School football stadium in 2024. He didn't talk and was described as being respectful but shy. He only showed slight interest in the sport before joining Panorama his freshman year. He had been a skater with an impressive frame that matched the ones you see rolling down Roscoe Boulevard. Long khaki pants, rippled at the shin with Vans on and always on the move, having adventures in the San Fernando Valley. Hernandez Villa was never a troublemaker and always scored high grades in school. He has a 4.3 GPA as a junior, but football at the time seemed distant. Until Hernandez Villa's mother, Maria, met Panorama coach Adrian Beltran to discuss her son's future. 'I saw his mom at the front gate, and she just talked to me and thought this kid would probably just show up and maybe not play,' Beltran said. What Beltran couldn't foresee was Hernandez Villa's impact after agreeing to play, having never played a single down of football before high school. 'Before I came to this program and this high school, I was barely getting a taste,' Hernandez Villa said. 'I was just quiet. But then I got into high school, skating stopped, and football became my passion. I started getting into the NFL, and I wanted to be like that.' Hernandez Villa was getting strong grades, but he did one get B during his first semester. A B grade might not be a big deal for some athletes, but Beltran was going to hold his pupil to a higher standard. 'I told him you can't be getting B's,' Beltran said. 'I told him you better start taking college classes, AP classes.' Hernandez Villa started as a safety before playing linebacker and running back and has now blossomed. Panorama has a 3-0 record with a physical and bruising single-wing run offense that has been mowing down the competition. Hernandez Villa is being compared to all-time great running backs like Milton Knox with video game-type numbers. Hernandez has 729 rushing yards and is closing in on surpassing 1,000 yards in less than half a season. Division I college programs are starting to take notice. He's received calls from the likes of Washington State and San Diego State. No schools have offered Hernandez Villa, but they are watching. Watching and waiting to see just how far one person can push Panorama, a school whose existence in football has spanned 20 years and never produced a Division I athlete. Hernandez Villa could be the first. Related Articles