This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
South Jordan • For the first time in three years, the Miners find themselves looking up at an in-state team. They weren't the only ones — around the state, teams should be wondering the same thing: Can Lone Peak be beat?
The Knights (7-0), carried on the arm and legs of quarterback Chase Hansen, knocked out Bingham (5-2) in a 45-24 road victory that dramatically shifts power in the Utah prep football landscape. By knocking out last year's Class 5A champion, Lone Peak assumed the mantle of the state's best team in spectacular fashion.
"I felt like when things weren't there for us, our guys kept working, our line kept blocking," Hansen said. "Things opened up. We executed well. And even when we didn't execute well, things still worked for us."
When the Lone Peak offense took the field, Hansen was electric. The 6-foot-3 Utah commit dazzled with 480 yards of offense and six touchdowns. Any time Bingham seemed on the verge of stopping the surging Knights, Hansen made a dazzling play.
There's plenty of examples:
• In the third quarter on third down, Hansen zig-zagged out of a near-certain sack to scramble 14 yards for a first down. Lone Peak scored two plays later.
• In the fourth quarter, Hansen dashed to a sideline and let a pass rip to Connor Humphrey, who took it to the end zone to give the Knights their final 21-point advantage.
• On the first play of the game, Hansen found Humphrey wide open in the middle of the field for an 80-yard touchdown.
"He was very efficient in the first half, and had the wheels underneath in the second that made the game," Lone Peak coach Tony McGeary said. "We knew we'd have trouble running the ball with our running backs, but Chase was able to give us the run game we needed, and he made all the throws he needed to."
In the first half, the contest more than lived up to its billing as one of the best regular season games of the year. Bingham and Lone Peak traded a pair of touchdowns — the Knights with their explosiveness, and the Miners with their grinding runs. Bingham's Daniel Palepoi gained 113 yards in the first half, and Brady Lail threw two early touchdowns thanks to the play-action pass.
But the Miners lost Palepoi for the second half after the bruising back suffered a concussion, and the offense suffered. Besides one 74-yard touchdown drive on the first possession of the third quarter, Bingham never regained the balance that made it so threatening. Lail, often scrambling in the pocket, finished 8-for-19 with 126 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
It was undoubtedly Lone Peak's night to shine, and Bingham could not beat a Utah team for the first time since 2008. And the Knights were good enough to leave the question hanging if anyone else in the state has a chance at knocking them off.
"We've never made a big thing [about the streak], we just go out there and try to prove we're the best team on the field — tonight we weren't," Bingham coach Dave Peck said. "I don't see anyone better than Lone Peak. If there's a better team in Utah, I don't know where they are."
Twitter: @kylegoon