High school football: Bingham bounces back after slow start, beats AF

SOUTH JORDAN — Bingham coach Dave Peck had plenty to ponder heading into Friday night. On Labor Day, his Miners were handed a lopsided loss from Texas behemoth Euliss Trinity in the first high school game at Cowboys Stadium, and the sting of being shown up on the national stage was still hot. Peck questioned his players' effort in the Lonestar State drubbing and wondered how they would respond with 5A foe American Fork on deck mere days later.

On the first play from scrimmage Friday, American Fork's Chase Hansen linked up with speedy receiver Ethan Wright for an 80-yard touchdown. Not the response Peck had in mind.

Peck's squad quickly returned to form as one of the top teams in Utah, however, slamming the door defensively and carving up the Cavemen (3-1) on offense to notch a 41-14 nonregion victory Friday night. During a stretch between the second and third quarters, the Miners (3-1) scored on six consecutive possessions, including two field goals in the final five seconds of the first half.

"I really didn't know what to expect," Peck said. "We played about our 'D' game [in Texas] — didn't compete at all. The bottom line is we settled down. I was really proud of our guys."

It wasn't pretty for Bingham early, though. After American Fork's first-play score, the Miners' opening drive was cut short on the second play on a fumble. From there, however, the Miners did what miners do — chipped away.

"We just had to do it. Tough week, but we had to bounce back," said Bingham receiver Dalton Fackrell, who had three catches for 40 yards, including a six-yard touchdown from quarterback Ty Hannay (7-for-11 for 129 yards).

During Bingham's resurgence, Harvey Langi —100 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries — carved up American Fork on the ground, with situational quarterback Stefan Cantwell finishing two drives with scoring runs of two and 10 yards. Hannay also linked up with Josh Smith for an 18-yard touchdown pass, and kicker Braeden Loveless punched through a pair of field goals.

With about five ticks left in the opening half, Loveless booted a 28-yard field goal, and then Bingham somehow recovered the ensuing squib kick. The kicking unit lined up at the 31-yard line and Loveless drilled a 48-yard kick as time expired in the second quarter.

Defensively, Bingham tightened the screws. After the game-opening score, American Fork was forced to punt on five consecutive drives, and the Cavemen fumbled on their final possession of the half. Even when they recovered a Bingham fumble within one yard of paydirt, the Cavemen were stuffed on four straight scoring attempts from the 1-yard line.

Hansen chalked up 118 yards on 4-of-11 passing, including a second touchdown to Wright (game-high 106 receiving yards) late in the game. Kaiden Worthington paced American Fork's ground game with 54 yards on 13 carries.