Bingham and Alta football teams on a collision course

Back in August, weeks before the season began, Bingham coach Dave Peck proclaimed that his squad's tilt against Alta in Week 1 might be "one of the biggest games of the season."

Bingham went on to win 28-12 in a contest beset by penalties and early season sloppiness. For the next little while, especially after Alta dropped to 0-2 the following week, it appeared that the contest might not have been as big as Peck thought.

However, that part of the prep season seems like ancient history now. Bingham hasn't lost yet, posting a 13-0 record through three playoff games. Meanwhile, the Hawks, since opening 0-2, have rattled off 11-straight wins.

All of which has put the two teams on a collision course. And months after opening the season against each other, top-ranked Bingham and No. 2 Alta will meet for the 5A state title tonight at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

"Somebody asked me earlier, 'Did you foresee that it could come down to this?' And I says, 'Yes,"' said Peck. "There's no question that we definitely thought we could be seeing Alta later on in the season, because they run a good program."

Peck wasn't the only thinking that.

"We had a feeling that Bingham would be there," said Alta coach Les Hamilton, "and we kind of had a feeling that we might be getting on track to get there."

Here are a few thoughts to throw around before heading up to the big game, which begins tonight at 5:

AS YOU'D EXPECT, both teams are vastly different than the ones that met in Week 1. Alta quarterback Dallin Cutler ran the ball fairly effectively in that game, but Hamilton admitted he didn't get the ball nearly enough to star running back Sausan Shakerin.

Bingham's schemes in the season-opener were similar to what it's used since, but the team's execution has been vastly improved.

"It was just an ugly game, because we both had so many good athletes on the field," said Peck.

IMMEDIATELY AFTER beating Fremont, Alta's players celebrated boisterously and proclaimed that they wanted another shot at Bingham.

That was hardly the case when the Miners knocked off Pleasant Grove in the other semifinal a few hours later. Instead of celebrating loudly, Bingham's squad just calmly walked off the field.