Just as happened last November, Alta scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns Friday against Bingham at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Unlike last year, those scores were fairly meaningless.

That's because Bingham's defense was resilient in the first half and tougher than ever in the third quarter, when the Miners took control on their way to a 28-19 victory in the Class 5A semifinals.

Thanks partly to the Hawks' last two drives, the statistics show Bingham allowing 341 passing yards and 393 total yards. But those numbers were relatively harmless, because the Miners forced two short field-goal attempts (both missed) in the first half and made a fourth-down stop early in the third quarter, then stuffed Alta's next two possessions while leading 22-7.

"We missed some tackles ... [but] overall, our kids played hard. We were physical with them," said Bingham coach Dave Peck.

And even when the Miners gave up those fourth-quarter scores, Kesni Tausinga blocked an extra point and Kameron Coon made a tackle on a two-point conversion try, maintaining Bingham's nine-point lead each time.

"We gave up some touchdowns and some big plays, but we just played through it," said linebacker Jake Bright, who made 12 tackles, including two for losses.

The Bingham secondary gave up three completions of 40 yards or longer, but Travis McRae broke up two passes and recovered a fumble. "I think we played good, for the type of speed they have," said cornerback Braden Anderson.

Good enough to hold Alta to a pair of meaningless fourth-quarter touchdowns.

kkragthorpe@sltrib.com