High school football: Final score a thing of beauty for dominating Bingham Miners

SOUTH JORDAN — There are ugly football games, there are really ugly football games and then there's Bingham's 28-8 win over Viewmont Friday evening.

Looking every bit like the season-opener that it was for both teams, turnovers, miscues and many other assorted mistakes played a prominent role at nearly every turn.

But amidst all the ugliness, Bingham's defense was simply beautiful.

Despite not knowing precisely what Viewmont's offense would run beforehand, Bingham's talented defense stuffed the Vikings from start to finish.

Along the way, it created several opportunities for Bingham's offense, and the Miners ultimately capitalized on enough of them to emerge with the 20-point victory despite falling behind 8-0 in the first quarter.

"It's a win," said Bingham coach Dave Peck when asked to sum up Friday's contest. "You know what, it was an ugly first game. That's the best I can say — it was an ugly first game. Obviously, we're gonna have to play a whole lot better if we're gonna expect to contend for any titles, region or state, or any other things."

That last statement rings particularly true, considering Bingham will be hosting Alta next Friday in the big rivalry game.

However, before the Miners could turn their attention to that annual showdown, they first had to take care of business against Viewmont.

That they ultimately did.

Bingham quarterback Ty Hannay threw for two scores and rushed for another, and defensive back Braden Anderson led Bingham's stellar defense with three interceptions.

Trailing 8-0 via a Pick 6 and subsequent two-point conversation, Bingham finally sprung to life near the end of the first quarter when Hanney connected with Josh Smith for a 22-yard touchdown pass.

The Miners added two scores to lead 21-8 at halftime, and with the defense leading the way, they never looked back.

Bingham held Viewmont to 175 yards of offense, most of which came on a Garrett Bushman 74-yard run in the fourth quarter, and suffocated the Vikes at almost every turn.

Peck and his players didn't know what first-year Viewmont coach Brad Lloyd was going to run on offense before Friday's season-opener, but they simply did their jobs and turned in a solid defensive performance on Day 1.

"Our defensive scheme, if everybody does their job, it should be able to stop any offensive set that we come against," said Peck.

One guy that definitely did his job was Anderson, whom Peck said he believes is "the best DB in the state."

Anderson came up with three picks and was solid in about everything he did to lead the Miners' D.