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West Valley City • With his team milling around the field in mild celebration, new Bingham coach John Lambourne acknowledged that the opposition on this particular Friday night had a very similar demeanor to his own squad.

But host Hunter played without one of its two primary running backs in this non-region contest.

And Bingham? Well, the Miners played typical Miner football in outlasting the Wolverines, 27-6.

"We were a little sluggish at first, but finished strong," Lambourne said. "That's our style. They had a guy out, but that's their style too."

Bingham (5-1) got a pair of 40-yard field goals from Kyle Mitchell and a 15-yard touchdown pass from Matt Degn to Colton Fielder in building a 13-0 third-quarter lead.

In control throughout, the Miners suddenly found themselves in a one-possession game when Hunter (3-3) marched 79 yards in 10 plays to score its lone touchdown.

The Wolverines' scoring throw from McKay Meidlinger to Logan Lutui, a 15-yard pass also, took place on a fourth-and-3 play with 3:55 left in the third. The point-after kick attempt, however, was partially blocked to make the score 13-6.

"It's rare that our defense gives up much of anything, but we got a little confused on a coverage," said Lambourne of a 29-yard pass from Meidlinger to Jordan Lutui in that Hunter drive.

But it took all of three minutes for Bingham to respond.

The Miners swiftly moved 67 yards and Jahvontay Smith broke loose for a 33-yard TD run with 54 seconds remaining in the third. Up until that drive, which put Bingham up 20-7, the visitors' longest rush from scrimmage was only 8 yards.

"I think we just got the momentum, just started getting ourselves together," Smith said. "We realized we had to get it together. We couldn't make it a close game — we had to score.

"Field goals aren't good," he added.

If that wasn't enough of a blow, Bingham got back in the end zone with less than a minute elapsed in the fourth quarter. Hunter fumbled the ball on the first play of the period and the Miners recovered at the 30-yard line.

With a short field, Bingham scored four plays later on an 8-yard throw from Degn to Kentero Yoshikawa.

Hunter got 63 yards rushing from Duke Atiga, but the Wolverines were missing the services of fellow rusher Jerome Fauatea.

"He's got a bad wheel, and he was about 75 percent last week against Granger," Hunter coach Scott Henderson said. "We needed to get him healthy so we can have more than just one guy.

"We told our kids we had to play a great game," he added. "It helps us, other than our pride, but we'll be all right." —

Storylines

R Bingham scores two touchdowns in the span of two minutes, at the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth.

• Hunter's 79-yard drive in the third period, culminating with a 15-yard pass from McKay Meidlinger to Logan Lutui, cuts the Miners' lead to 13-6.

• Miners running back Jahvontay Smith tore loose for a 33-yard run to answer the Wolverines' lone score.