Mr. Football 2009: Bingham High's Tuni Kanuch

A devastating blocker, a three-year starter and the anchor of the state's most dominant offensive line.

Those are the on-the-field credentials of Bingham right guard Tuni Kanuch, the Deseret News 2009 Mr. Football award recipient. Kanuch played an integral role in opening holes for running backs such as Harvey Langi and Richie Vakapuna, and protecting quarterbacks Ty Hannay and Stefan Cantwell.

But what Kanuch meant to the 5A state champion Miners can't be measured in any statistics or even highlight film. He led his team with words and by example, and who would question a teammate that stands 6-foot-3, weighs 300 pounds, squats 615, benches 405 and runs a 4.9 40 anyway?

"Tuni has a lot of qualities," said Bingham coach Dave Peck. "He's a great leader. Anytime I go to speak or one of the coaches go to speak, Tuni is the first one to make sure that everyone listens. When Tuni speaks, everyone listens."

A teammate had to learn that the hard way.

One of the highlights of Kanuch's leadership at Bingham came when he intervened in a conflict between a sophomore football player and a sophomore coach. The player had been out of line, and outwardly disrespectful to the coach in front of his teammates. Once Kanuch heard about it, he had a conversation with the player to make sure it never happened again.

And it didn't.

"I got more mad thinking about it," Kanuch said of the time between hearing of the incident and taking care of it. "I threw off my gear, waited for him in the sophomore locker room. When he came in, I just started screaming at him that we don't do that here, and we aren't disrespectful."

The player wasn't the only one to get the message.

"The whole team was pretty good (about being respectful) after that," Kanuch said.

While his leadership qualities in the offseason, on the practice field and in the weight room were important to the Miners, Kanuch's play was obviously instrumental in Bingham earning its second state football championship in four years.

Kanuch anchored an offensive line that simply wore down opponents. The Miners rushed for 352 yards in a 62-42 win over Jordan in the first round of the playoffs. More impressively, they rushed for 293 yards against a top-notch defense in Davis in the 5A championship game.

Kanuch had plenty of help around him on both sides of the ball, but he was the leader of Bingham's group of players that put the hammer down on opponents in the trenches.