High school football: Miners' O-line is trying to reach full potential

SOUTH JORDAN — From the outside looking in, there were any number of things you point to and say contributed to Bingham's 0-2 start this year.

One of the most obvious things, though, was the play of the Miners' offensive line.

Heralded as a group that had the potential to become one of the best O-lines in school history before a ball had been snapped, Bingham's offensive line struggled mightily in early-season losses to Skyline and Alta.

At that point, many wondered if Bingham's O-line simply wasn't going to be as good as everyone originally thought, but as it's played out, it just took the big guys some time to get going.

Once Bingham's stars along the O-line gelled together, they started to play better and better — like the Miners' team as a whole. And heading into Friday's 5A title game against Alta, Bingham coach Dave Peck and Co. will need that unit, composed of LT Talai Lavai, LG Vince Giron, C Braydn Heap, RG Tuni Kanuch and RT Brandon Taukeiaho, to deliver.

"We did look at it and felt like potential-wise they could be as good a line as we've ever had, and we (said) the same thing about the defensive line that we did have with Tame Fangupo, Vince Giron, Braydon Cannon. There was some experience there coming back that made us really feel good about the potential that could be there," said Peck. "But potential's really an awful word because if you're saying, 'potential' it means they really haven't done anything. And that's all it was at that point was potential."

The Miners, however, have since done their best to turn potential into an end product.

The D-line was OK at the start of the year and has since turned into a stellar group, while the O-line, which had all kinds of problems early on, has steadily progressed.

Giron said the difference for the O-line has been being able to gel together.

"At the beginning of the year, a lot of people didn't know what they were doing for sure," said Giron. "We didn't have confidence in each other, and then as weeks have gone, we've just become even closer friends. We just completely rely on each other and don't have to worry about messing up.

"We're just right there with each other —just tight."

To a certain extent, Bingham's O-line remains a work in progress, but Peck will be counting on those guys to put their best foot forward on Friday.

"I still think we have our moments where we dominate, and then we have our moments where it's still a little bit of a breakdown," said Peck. "I know we haven't played a perfect game or our best game, and we hope that we play the best game of the season on Friday night."