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South Jordan • The perceived notion of a gradual shift in power from Bingham to Herriman was extinguished on Friday. The Mustangs might have captured the Class 5A championship last season, but the Miners still own the title of big brother.
Bingham bruised and bullied the Mustangs for 48 minutes, scoring on its first seven drives, to hand Herriman its second-worst loss in school history in a 45-0 drubbing.
"I don't think it's so much Herriman," said Bingham coach John Lamborne when asked if his team is playing with a chip on its shoulder. "I don't think that really matters to us, but [we're] playing with a little pain from what happened last year."
Herriman, which is now 0-6 all-time against Bingham, crossed midfield only twice offensively, on the final drive of the first half against a prevent defense, and on the final drive of regulation, when the Miners had reached deep into their reserves.
Although Lamborne denied having any special motivation to dethrone the Mustangs, it was evident the Miners were playing with extra juice from the onset.
Known for its downhill running attack, Bingham placed an emphasis on the pass game in the first half. The Miners have their deepest receiving corps in years, and quarterback Matt Degn spread touches among Brayden Cosper — an extremely underrated talent with Division 1 potential — Dax Milne, Braden Harward and tight end Kentero Yoshikawa.
"We go where our tools are at," Lamborne said. "We try and be as versatile as we can."
And with the aerial threat combined with the offensive line paving massive alleyways for Jahvontay Smith, Herriman (1-1) simply had no answer.
The Miners started the scoring with a 4-yard play-action from Degn to Milne. Then after converting third-and-19 on the second drive, Smith rumbled for another touchdown from 15 yards. Tate Peterson extended the advantage on a 1-yard toss sweep, and Degn's second touchdown pass, a 10-yard rollout to Braden Harward, ended the first half at 28-0.
Bingham (2-0) was equally dominant on defense despite playing without four-star defensive tackle Jay Tufele, who was sideline with a foot injury. The Miners created havoc on the interior, thwarting Herriman's run game. The pressure also flustered Mustang quarterback Hayden Reynolds, who was forced to dump down and allow Bingham's secondary to swarm.
The Miners returned the opening kick of the second half to Herriman's 43-yard line and quickly went to work, as Degn eventually found Cosper unattended for a 19-yard touchdown. Bingham's second-team offense would add 10 more points on the next two drives as the second half featured a running clock.
"We played great as a team today," Degn said. … "We try not to listen to what people say. We try to do our talking in between the sidelines. I think we did that tonight."
Twitter: @trevorphibbs —
Storylines
R Bingham improves to 6-0 all-time against Herriman, and hands the Mustangs their second-worst loss in school history. (Bingham beat Herriman 48-0 in 2010).
• The Miners score on their first seven drives.
• Herriman managed to cross midfield only twice.