5A high school football: Missed opportunities doom Alta

Missed opportunities prevented Alta from completing yet another run to a 5A championship.

Things did not work out in the red zone as the Hawks needed in their 28-19 semifinal loss to Bingham at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Friday afternoon. Alta moved the ball into Miner territory easily enough on three of its first four drives.

The Hawks came away empty-handed on two of those trips, however, when normally sure-footed kicker Vance "Moose" Bingham missed on a pair of short-distance field goal attempts.

Bingham could not connect from 34 yards out on Alta's opening drive. After Jordan Brown hooked up with Tyron Morris for a 40-yard touchdown pass to give the Hawks a 7-0 lead, Bingham got a chance to extend that lead with a 20-yard attempt. Once again, the ball hooked wide of the upright.

It was stunning turn of events for a kicker who had made 17 field goals — helping Bingham tie a state record set in 1999 by South Summit kicker Curtis McEntire for most field goals made in a season. And it ultimately proved to be a costly one for Alta in a nine-point loss.

Still, Hawks coach Les Hamilton had nothing but praise for the senior after the game.

"He's won big games for us over the years," Hamilton said. "I love him to death. He was just trying to do his best for his team and it didn't go his way tonight."

That ended up being a recurring theme for Alta in different phases of the game. The Hawks limited Bingham's passing game but struggled to stop the Miners on the ground. On offense, Brown moved the ball well when he went to the air. The running game, on the other hand, was virtually non-existent.

Brown racked up 341 yards and three touchdowns while completing 18-of-34 passes. Alta basically needed a larger-than-life performance from him after gaining just 52 yards on 35 carries from its running game.

Hamilton said that Brown had to operate under too much pressure because the Hawks lacked a punch on the ground. He also felt like it put Alta at a disadvantage when it came to field position.

"We put our defense in a tough situation because we were unable to run the ball," Hamilton said.

Bingham made it easy to gain advantages in several areas with its size and talent up front. Hamilton attributed many of the problems the Hawks had on either side of the ball to the standout play of that unit. The Miners were able to create enough pressure with three linemen up top that they could drop the other players back into pass coverage most of the time.

"If anything went our way, it would have been a different game," Hamilton said. "But the things that didn't go our way is because of them. They made plays."

e-mail: jcoon@desnews.com