High school football: Alta kicker drills winning field goal in OT

PLEASANT GROVE — A team's kicker is mostly taken for granted — until that player is called upon in the game's most crucial moment.

For Alta's Vance Bingham, it's a challenge he relishes, and a situation he wants — and expects — to be in. The Hawks' kicker was the hero — and the difference — in Alta's 23-20 overtime victory over Pleasant Grove on Friday night.

Bingham, in addition to booting a 44-yarder in the third quarter, tied the game on a 37-yarder with 9 seconds left in regulation, then calmly connected on a 40-yarder in overtime.

The win put Alta's record at 8-2 overall (5-1 in Region 4), while dropping Pleasant Grove to 7-2 (4-2 in Region 4).

After the game, Bingham spoke about his heroics like a professional.

"I love being in this situation," he said. "I just enjoy it, and I'm happy it was on my shoulders."

Alta head coach Les Hamilton was happy it was on his kicker, too, and expressed the utmost confidence in him.

"As coaches we know we have the best kicker in the state, and so we have confidence that "Moose" can put it through," Hamilton said.

Fired up with a raucous home crowd behind it, Pleasant Grove took the game's first possession and turned it into a methodical 11-play, 80-yard drive capped by a three-yard run by Jeff Harris.

The Vikings' defense looked strong, but Alta took advantage of fairly good field possession at its own 41. The Hawks turned that opportunity into a five-yard touchdown run on a Jordan Brown quarterback keeper.

After PG failed to move the ball, the Hawks were looking to make something happen with less than two minutes left in the first half. But the Vikings' D.J. Doman intercepted a Brown pass and his team had another shot to take a lead into halftime. Pleasant Grove took advantage of the turnover and turned it into a one-yard run by Donny Lewis with under a minute remaining.

From there, Bingham scored eight of his team's final 14 points, and even pulled that feat off despite missing a 49-yard field-goal try.

Even with his team down 20-10 in the fourth quarter, Hamilton said his players didn't put their heads down.

"What I'm most proud of tonight is how we came together as a team," he said.

The touchdown that put the Vikings up by 10 points – a 63-yard run by Kyle Tucker that shredded the Alta defense – could have been demoralizing to the Hawks.

Instead, it took Alta just five plays in 28 seconds to put a touchdown – a three-yard reception by Steven Richards – on the scoreboard. The 80-yard whirlwind of a drive seemed to stun Pleasant Grove and put Alta in position for the tying and winning kicks from Bingham.

"I think we needed a chance to come back in a game and get success," Hamilton said. "This might be the momentum we need to go into the playoffs."