By Brian Shaw | [email protected]

Standing in the shadow of their own end zone, the Bingham Miners broke up a pass on fourth down to win 25-19 over Lone Peak on Friday, Nov. 4 and advance to the 6A state semifinals.

Bingham head coach Eric Jones said the Miners had three goals. One, win region—which they did. The second was to get to Rice-Eccles—now they’ve done that as well.

Bingham [10-3] ended the five-year curse placed upon them since 2018, one Lone Peak continued last year at the same exact spot: the 6A quarterfinals—though it happened in better weather.

The 2,000 or so in blue-and-white who braved the early winter snow blowing in both directions at Ron Case Stadium were hoping beyond hope they’d make it back to Rice-Eccles Stadium the following week for a 6A semifinal. They did, but they lost once they got there to Skyridge, 45-20 on Nov. 10, and winning state was the team’s final objective.

“The season went really well in my opinion. I thought the kids played hard and battled all season long,” said Jones, who was in his first year at the school. “Of course it was disappointing to fall short of our goal of winning the state title but I'm very proud of our team and what we accomplished together.”

You’d be remiss not to know how the Miners got back to Rice-Eccles, however—because the journey was epic.

The First Half

In the first quarter at Bingham Nov. 4 against No. 11 Lone Peak, each team’s defensive front pushed against the other’s offense—offering little leeway in return. The No. 3 seed Miners missed a field goal attempt but chipped six minutes off the scoreboard clock. On defense, they stiffened on third down, but the visitors hit a 54-yard field goal to dump the Miners in a 3-0 hole.

To begin the second quarter, the Miners punted on their next possession that Lone Peak soon after converted with another field goal, putting Bingham in an even deeper 6-0 hole.

Senior quarterback Dallen Martinez led his Miners back onto the field. Faced with third and 13 in his own territory, the No. 12 jersey in blue rolled right and found Carson Sudbury open on the left flank for a 34-yard reception at the Lone Peak 28.

For the first time in the game, the Miners were inside the red zone. Another Martinez-to-Sudbury strike on the left looked like a sure six points—but the junior slipped while cutting back on the icy turf.

But Bingham associate head coach/offensive coordinator Fred Fernandes, who up to that point had called most of his plays to the left side of the field, had Martinez roll right and keep going. Two seconds later, No. 12 tiptoed in for a 12-yard touchdown, giving the Miners a 7-6 lead with 37 seconds left in the half.

The Second Half

Coming out of the halftime break, the Miners tried a squib kick that a Lone Peak player bobbled but came out with. It set the tone for a physical, nasty second half. The visitors took a page from Bingham’s play book scoring on a 2-yard TD pass to the right side. But the Miners blitz led by senior Ben Latai stuffed the 2-point conversion.

They came out of it in a 12-7 hole. Three consecutive long-gainers on runs carried Bingham from their own 30-yard line inside the Lone Peak 20—keyed by senior Maddax Peck. In the red zone, the Miners got Lone Peak to give way, as senior Havea Fotu got 6 yards to the 2. Martinez pushed again to the 1. Then Sudbury—touchdown. Bingham was back in front, 13-12 with 2:05 to go in the third quarter. With two breathers, Fotu surprised everyone by taking the handoff and tossing a rugby-style jump-pass to a wide-open Sudbury in the end zone to make it a 15-12 lead with the two-pointer. Another Bingham squib on the kickoff led to a short field, and a Lone Peak touchdown put the Miners back in a 19-15 hole to end the third quarter.

The Miners kept to the ground with senior Peck having all kinds of room on sweeps and end-arounds—until Lone Peak stopped it cold on third down. Looking at his axe, Martinez scanned the field—trips right on both sides. He hesitated, then sprinted into the open field, diving for the line to gain on fourth down with seven minutes left in the game.

“Dallen is a fierce competitor who doesn't need external motivation. That kid has as much internal fire & drive as any athlete I've coached,” said Jones of one of his team captains. “We just stuck to our plan as coaches and trusted in the boys to go execute. Dallen made numerous plays that night to earn the win.”

Two plays later, Martinez had two receivers on either side, and Fotu to his left. Fotu doubled back from his defender and caught the screen pass, jogging into the end zone for a 22-19 Bingham lead with 6:20 to go.

Taking One for the Team

With the season on the line, the Miners defense needed a big stop. The clock was in their favor as it trickled under 5:00 left in this 6A quarterfinal against Lone Peak, the same team that ended the Miners’ season prematurely, last year.

Senior Ben Latai had been sick all week with the flu, but he made a huge third down stop that forced Lone Peak to punt—but the visitors went for it instead. “Latai really cranked up his pass rush & physicality down the stretch,” said Jones.

As this slugfest dropped to temperatures below freezing, the Miners had one play they needed to make on fourth down. Junior Tyson McBride saw the ball go up over his shoulder against the wind and leapt. He punched the ball out of bounds, giving the Miners the ball back.

They took to the ground. Eventually, Fotu smashed inside the Lone Peak 20. Sudbury chipped away for five more. Offensive linemen in blue were earning helmet stickers as they went: Top Gun! Stack Of Pancakes!

But Lone Peak made a big stop on third and short.

With no timeouts to take on the sideline of Lone Peak, and 2:04 to play, the Miners missed the field goal attempt, but a Lone Peak player jumped before the ball was kicked. On his second try, kicker Kole Francom calmed his nerves and snapped it through the uprights for a 38-yarder and a 25-19 lead.

On first down, Lone Peak threw, but senior Beau Hamilton busted it up. Then, Latai blasted through the line and sacked the QB—his only one in this 6A quarterfinal. A short pass went for a yard. It was fourth and nine to go; the Lone Peak QB was hit as he threw it—but the jump ball was caught at the Bingham 41 with 54 seconds left.

A pass over the middle got Lone Peak to the Bingham 17 with 41 ticks on the clock. Another short pass took five seconds. A throw to the end zone was broken up, bringing up fourth down where the long arm of a Miner kept the season going for Bingham.

The week before they advanced to play Lone Peak it was also do-or-die for the Miners on Friday Oct. 28. With the season on the line for Bingham, senior quarterback Dallen Martinez found Havea Fotu out in the flat for a 15-yard screen pass. That conversion on fourth and 7 led to a 2-yard Martinez burst through a hole the Miners offensive line drilled open, and a 28-20 6A second-round tournament win over Pleasant Grove.