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Every Wednesday at the end of football practice, the ritual at Alta High remains the same.
Vance "Moose" Bingham , the Hawks' senior kicker, lines up. Alta coach Les Hamilton runs the sidelines, feverishly counting down from 20. The field goal team will run out onto the field and the remainder of the team will be in the kicking team's face, screaming, hollering, throwing things, anything they can do to distract him.
If he makes the kick, always from varying distances, practice is over. If he misses? They get to do the same thing over again.
"That's how we end practice every week," Hamilton said. "He's gotta knock it through, and more often than not, he does it."
The drill is a unique one, but it paid off Friday when Bingham hit the game-winner to propel Alta to a 23-20 overtime win at Pleasant Grove with the Region 4 title on the line.
That was one of three kicks that Bingham nailed, the last two with the weight of the entire game on his shoulders. He had to tie the game in the final minute just to carry the Hawks to overtime.
"Vance is the best kicker in the state," Hamilton said. "He's got ice water running through his veins. He works out all the time with [former University of Utah kicker] Louie Sakoda . He's been offered preferred walk-on status at Utah. He's just a great kicker."
Let's do it again
Led by Alex Hart 's three touchdowns, Jordan
But that's not the end of the Region 4 rivalry. The two teams will meet on Tuesday in what will be a play-in game to determine who gets the fourth and final seed out of Region 4.
According to Alta's Hamilton, the game will be played at Alta High with a start time of 5 p.m. The winner will take on Bingham on Friday.
Deciding factors
A number of regions were decided with Friday's play.
Timpview won Region 7 with its win over Provo. Park City won Region 10 with a win over Wasatch. Davis won Region 1 when Syracuse lost to Layton.
A projection
If form holds true in Class 4A, Mountain Crest, the top seed out of Region 5, would be forced to play Highland, the top seed out of Region 6, in the second round of the playoffs.
