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South Jordan • Last season, Bingham erased a two-score deficit against Bishop Gorman and nearly earned the upset in overtime. The same comeback fortune wasn't bestowed on the Miners on Friday night.

Bishop Gorman vindicated its national No. 1 ranking with its 38-20 victory in the highly anticipated showdown. The Gaels (2-0) moved swiftly and efficiently on offense against a defense that hadn't relinquished a point this season, and they stifled the Miners with athleticism in the secondary while overpowering Utah's top-ranked program in the trenches.

"I'm proud of the way they fought; [Bingham] was a good football team. To put up 38 points on that defense speaks volumes to the type of guys we have," said Bishop Gorman coach Kenny Sanchez. "We're young, we're a little immature in some ways, but that was a good victory for us."

The Gaels (2-0) squandered their opening 10-play drive when they coughed up possession two yards from pay dirt. Then, when Bishop Gorman's ensuing drive stuttered, it provided Bingham with 26 yards to work with after a punt sailed backward in the wind.

The Miners (2-1) quickly had first-and-goal from the 3-yard line when a botched snap sailed over quarterback Keaton Torre's head. Two plays later, Bishop Gorman's Farrell Hester picked off Torre's pass when he inexplicably threw into quadruple coverage under duress.

It was the beginning of a tough evening for the quarterback, who started 1 for 9 and was later benched in favor of junior Matt Degn in the third quarter. Degn engineered three scoring drives in the second half, all of which culminated with with sophomore receiver Brayden Cosper pulling in a pass.

"Just trying to spark the team a little bit," said Bingham coach John Lambourne when asked about the switch at quarterback. "We faltered in a lot of different ways; the quarterback position happens to be the one that's most obvious. We're still trying to discover who we are offensively. We didn't do enough to help our defense."

Bishop Gorman built a 17-0 advantage at intermission behind quarterback Tate Martell and receiver Tyjon Lindsey — a combination Bingham had no answer for. The deficit escalated quickly in the third quarter when the Gaels scored on consecutive plays — a 72-yard burst from Biaggio Ali Walsh, which was spurred by a defensive holding call on third down the prior play, and a 75-yard interception that Damuzhea Bolden returned for a touchdown — to inflate its cushion to 31-6.

"When you play in big games, there's a bend-but-don't-break kind of deal," Sanchez said. "At some point, we found the little inches we needed and it kind of sealed the deal for us."

tphibbs@sltrib.com

Twitter: @trevorphibbs