South Jordan • The visiting East Leopards took the field in red pants and jerseys Friday night. The Bingham Miners went with their traditional all-blue look.
An instant rivalry? With the backing of an overflow crowd, I’d say so.
The only thing making that label questionable is Bingham’s degree of domination in a 48-17 victory.
East’s move to join Bingham in the new Class 6A created another dimension of big-time competition, likely to be repeated in the state title game at Rice-Eccles Stadium in November. As of August, Bingham is in its own league.
The Miners stamped themselves as Utah’s official power program of 2017, with more national consideration to come. The Leopards’ turnovers and penalties kept them from having any chance of staying with Bingham. Those problems may or may not be correctable in the next three months, judging by the Miners’ strength and talent.
Bingham coach John Lambourne sounded like he expects to see the Leopards again, admiring their program and figuring they’ll improve. Same story with the Miners.
“This team can get better,” Lambourne said. “I don’t know exactly what that means.”
It should be enough to frighten the rest of the state.
East can say it never had to punt in the game’s first 40 minutes, but that’s not necessarily a good thing. Bingham’s defense produced five takeaways and a fourth-down stop, minimizing the effect of 224 rushing yards for East’s Sione Molisi.
In a matchup that featured a bunch of hulking college prospects on the offensive and defensive lines, one of the smallest players on the field made the plays that helped separate Bingham. Running back Braedon Wissler, 5-foot-7 and 165 pounds, sprinted 39 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter and 34 yards to set up his own third-quarter score, just when the Miners needed to assert themselves.
Wissler finished with 181 yards. And the much-anticipated convergence of championship programs from Salt Lake City and the southwest Salt Lake Valley produced a surprisingly one-sided outcome in the second week of the season.
“There was some pressure with it,” Lambourne said. “For the most part, we stayed pretty composed throughout the week.”
Generally, I oppose the concept of prep sports dynasties, preferring to spread the trophies around. When two powerful programs meet each other, though? That’s good stuff.
This was like the old days of the Bingham-Alta rivalry a decade or so ago, only bigger and more mysterious. Because they’ve played in different classifications, there was no way of knowing how Bingham and East would compare. Lambourne himself wondered about the matchup, due to a lack of common opponents.
Everybody got an answer Friday, when fans arrived early, filled temporary bleachers in the north end zone and stood four or five deep in spots around the track. Smoke rose from the concession area, flavoring one of the country’s most meaningful high school football games of the season.
Bingham took a 24-17 halftime lead, exploiting fumble recoveries by Simote Pepa and Brayden Cosper to drive 24 and 27 yards for touchdowns. East countered with big running plays from Molisi, but trailed because the Leopards lost three fumbles and had two long runs nullified by illegal-formation penalties. Then again, Cosper had what looked like a touchdown catch ruled an incompletion, making the Miners settle for a field goal.
In the third quarter, the Miners added a field goal on their opening possession and then Lolani Langi made a fourth-down stop in East territory. Wissler broke free for 34 yards on Bingham’s next play, leading to his own 2-yard touchdown run to make it 34-17.
After Cosper’s interception, Bingham’s Ryan Wood hit Dax Milne for a touchdown. And Wissler and the other Bingham backs kept running, right to the end.