Bingham dominates its rival

I love rivalry games. It brings out the best in both teams ... usually. Fans turn out in record numbers, there is passion on the field. It's high school sports at its best.

Bingham vs. West Jordan used to be a great rivalry, but it has gone south. Years ago, when West Jordan High School opened, it took a lot of its students from Bingham. The kids are neighbors, they've played each other in Little League, and they know each other well.

In football, Bingham has built a tradition. West Jordan hasn't yet. This game showed it, as Bingham won 41-7. The game wasn't close, but I can see that the Jaguars are making progress.

Last season, I covered a West Jordan game (at Olympus) and was very impressed with the team. The Jaguars won all their non-region games, but then collapsed in region. During the offseason, Oly's coach joined West Jordan as an assistant and he brought his "spread" offense with him. This year, the Jaguars are scoring a lot of points.

A week or two ago, though, they lost their starting quarterback, Adam Boelter, to injury. Tonight, they started freshman Michael Moorehead. The offense isn't the same, and that showed. Moorehead has a lot of potential, but he is still a freshman. Boelter is a junior, and was on a record pace when he was hurt (against Riverton).

West Jordan lost the Riverton game, 14-6. After the Bingham loss, I interviewed coach Mike Morgan and he Boelter got a concussion. "We couldn't understand his reads in that game," Morgan said. Turns out he had a concussion. That's why. That's probably why West Jordan only scored six points.

Anyway, Bingham dominated this game. West Jordan's only hope was to match Bingham's scoring, and never could. Bingham RB Harvey Langi had two touchdowns in the first quarter, and finished with 127 rushing yards. He could have had a lot more, but Bingham coach Dave Peck recognized that this game was not going to be competitive, so he instructed his QBs to try to work on their passing attack, which they will need later.

Bingham didn't scored in the second quarter, so it was still a game at halftime. But the Miners put up 20 points in the third period, including a 52-yard interception return by Manoa Pikula. That made the clock run faster (due to the 35-point "mercy rule). I found out later that Pikula's INT return marked the third straight game Bingham had returned a pick for a touchdown.

The passing attack wasn't great, but had its moments. QB Ty Hannay completed 6 of 18 passes for 165 yards. The other QB - Stefan Cantwell - didn't play as much. He was just 1 of 3 for 7 yards. DB Braden Anderson had a nice night with two interceptions, and a TD reception on offense. He also had a couple of nice punt returns.

Anderson was injured late in the game (hamstring) and his status is uncertain. That hurt, but Bingham is so deep that it should be able to wrap up the Region 3 title without him.

Bingham just doesn't have a weak spot. If I had to find one, I'd say quarterback. That's because they play with two QBs, and that's usually not a good thing. Hannay didn't have a good game at Trinity, but he has been just fine against Utah schools. Bingham doesn't need him to win games; just don't lose them. As long as Hannay understands that concept (Bingham has plenty of guys who can win games), the team will be fine.

By comparison, look at Alta. The Hawks need their QBs to win games. Same could be said for West Jordan.

So, what were the highlights of this game:

* - First, I froze. It was a clear, cold night. I'm wearing tennis shoes next time. I wore my nice shoes on this night, and my feet got cold. I won't make that mistake again. I noticed coach Peck wasn't even wearing a jacket, and he was fine. He probably had a lot of adrenaline running through him.

* - Second, I looked for my high-school friend, Jeff Nicol, but didn't find him. His stepson, Dalton Fackrell, plays for Bingham. Fackrell wasn't suited up on this night (injury). He's a big kid who might be able to play college football. Like I said, Bingham is loaded.

* - Third, credit West Jordan's fans. Bingham led 21-0 by the end of the first quarter, and they stuck it out. When the Jaguars finally scored - on an 18-yard pass from Moorehead to Deshawn Perkins - they cheered loudly.

* - After the game, I interviewed coach Peck and then looked for West Jordan's coach - Morgan. He and the team had already vacated the field and were in the locker room. Since the game ended early, I waited for him. I'm glad I did. It was a rough interview at the start, but he and I got to know each other. He's a class guy. That was one of the best interviews I've had with a coach this season.

I kept statistics from this game, too. Here they are:

Bingham 21 0 20 0 - 41
West Jordan 0 0 0 7 - 7

B - Harvey Langi 12 run (Braden Loveless kick)
B - Langi 22 run (Loveless kick)
B - Braden Anderson 20 pass from Ty Hannay (Loveless kick)
B - Langi 62 pass from Hannay (Loveless kick)
B - Josh Smith 23 pass from Hannay (Loveless kick)
B - Manoa Pikula 52 interception return (Loveless kick)
WJ - Deshawn Perkins 18 pass from Michael Moorehead (Alex Giordani kick)

Team statistics

First downs - Bingham 13, West Jordan 7
Rushes-yards - Bingham 27-119, West Jordan 16-86
Passing yards - Bingham 172, West Jordan 120
Passes - Bingham 7-21-0, West Jordan 11-30-4
Fumbles-lost - Bingham 1-0, West Jordan 1-1
Penalties - Bingham 7-51, West Jordan 3-20
Punts - Bingham 5-34.0, West Jordan 4-29.8

Individual statistics

RUSHING - Bingham, Langi 9-127, Cantwell 5-(-4), Hannay 4-(-7), Vakapuna 2-4, Housel 1-2, Tausinga 1-(-1). West Jordan, Moorehead 10-62, Maestes 3-10, Peacock 2-11, O'Neal 1-3.

PASSING - Bingham, Hannay 6-18-0-165, Cantwell 1-3-0-7. West Jordan, Moorehead 11-30-4-120.

RECEIVING - Bingham, Smith 3-59, Langi 1-62, Copier 1-32, Anderson 1-20. West Jordan, Perkins 6-81, Redmond 1-7, Collins 1-3, O'Neal 1-(-8).

MISSED FIELD GOALS - None