5A high school football championship: Bingham caps perfect season

SALT LAKE CITY — It's only fitting the 5A state championship provided mighty Bingham with one of its toughest tests of the season. Even that game, however, wasn't close.

Just like they have all year, the top-ranked Miners overwhelmed another opponent Friday afternoon at Rice-Eccles Stadium, racing to a four-touchdown, first-half lead against stunned Region 1 champion Fremont.

The rest was business as usual for Bingham, as it captured its second straight state title with a 30-7 victory, extending its school-record winning streak to 24 straight.

"We've been working so hard, with all these distractions and stuff like that, but it paid off," said Bingham linebacker Manoa Pikula. "The scoreboard will tell you how hard we've been working. It's just an amazing feeling right now."

Just like in Bingham's 12 previous wins this year, the outcome was never in doubt. The Miners led 14-0 after the first quarter, 27-0 at the half and 30-0 midway through the third quarter.

Unlike most Bingham foes, however, Fremont kept it respectable, equalling Alta's 23-point loss as Bingham's two closest games of the season.

"I thought Fremont played a great second half. They were gritty, they were gutty, you can see why they won 11 games in a row," said Bingham coach Dave Peck.

In the end, though, it wasn't enough, as Bingham captured its third state title in five years after a 60-yard drought.

"We've been working hard, our games have been tough, but we've battled through and it's great to come out on top," said quarterback Stefan Cantwell, who was again the offensive star for the Miners.

Fremont's defensive game plan from the outset was clearly to stop Harvey Langi. It stacked the box on almost every down, and it paid off early as the Bingham back was held to five total yards on his first five carries.

The Miners responded by doing what any good team would do — air the ball out. With Bingham facing the prospect of back-to-back punts to start the game on a third-and-11, Cantwell completed three straight passes for 81 yards, the last a 48-yard touchdown strike to Brady Measom, to give the Miners a 7-0 lead with 5:25 remaining in the quarter.

On Bingham's next possession Cantwell completed both of his passes for 44 yards, once again connecting with Measom on a 21-yard score to increase the lead to 14-0.

Fremont quickly discovered that Bingham is not one-dimensional.