Kragthorpe: Title game may not be as heated as rivalry

For almost a year, the Bingham Miners have talked about everything they left unfinished at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

So could anyone really believe they would be satisfied now, having survived the Class 5A semifinals?

It is a natural, every-other-year question, dictated by the rotating playoff pairings. When either Bingham or Alta eliminates the other in the semis, everybody wonders if the winner will have anything left for the actual state championship game.

That's the unsavory side effect of having the superpowers meet a week early. It would not be disclosing any confidential material to report that anticlimax was a subject Bingham's coaches were repeatedly addressing to the players after Friday's 28-19 victory.

Coach Dave Peck was rehearsing his own admonitions in media interviews, looking ahead to next Friday. "If we come up short in that one," Peck said, "then this game means nothing."

Well, maybe not nothing, because Alta vs. Bingham -- twice a year, lately -- always means something, if not everything to these programs.

Last November's 21-17 loss in the title game stuck with Bingham's returning players for nine months, until they rallied for a 38-34 victory in August. And even then, they knew there would be more to prove in the playoffs.

The Miners would need to finish better than last year, when they gave up two fourth-quarter touchdowns after leading 17-7.

"This past two years, they kicked our butts

in the second half," said Bingham cornerback Braden Anderson. "We just wanted to focus on winning the second half, finishing strong and not [giving] up the lead. That's what we did this whole year."

This time, Alta's two fourth-quarter touchdowns were harmless. That's because the Miners entered the period with a 22-7 lead, and Bingham's offense took care of the finishing process.

When it was 22-13 in the last six minutes and the possibility still existed that Alta quarterback Jordan Brown (341 yards, three touchdowns) could deliver an Ammon Olsen-style comeback, Bingham responded with an 80-yard drive, topped by Harvey Langi's 34-yard touchdown.

For the Miners, it was all about finishing off the Hawks. And yes, they know they're not done.

"I think when Monday rolls around, we're going to be focused," Anderson said. "We're going to come to play."

The trick, according to linebacker Jake Bright, will be preparing for the championship opponent by "thinking they're Alta."

That just might work.

This game may not have featured the usual level of drama associated with Alta vs. Bingham, but it was tough and intense. Alta left nine points on the field -- two short field-goal misses, a blocked extra point and a failed two-point conversion -- and lost by nine.

That's the way these games go, and another battle is sure to unfold in August. Between now and then, Bingham has a state title to win.

"Hopefully," Peck said, "our kids will be able to bring it again, one more week."

That should not be an issue, for a team determined to finish.

kkragthorpe@sltrib.com