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PLEASANT VIEW — As high school football officially kicked off across the state of Utah, two 6A powerhouses clashed in their first games of the season. Ultimately, it was Bingham who left Weber victorious in a statement 42-7 win.
Bingham had their way all night, especially on the ground, with running backs Havea Fotu and Carson Sudbury scoring three times apiece. The Miners' defense added two second-half interceptions and allowed only two touchdowns in a dominant performance.
The win was extra sweet for Bingham head coach Eric Jones, who is in his first year with the team after previously coaching at Roy. Credit is due to Jones for keeping his team focused after the game was delayed for over an hour midway through the first quarter due to weather.
"We kind of just let them relax and enjoy 30-40 minutes of downtime," Jones said. "They are kids, you've got to let them be kids. But they did a great job coming off the delay and being ready from the get-go."
After both teams started the game with three-and-out series, Bingham got on the board first when Fotu powered in from 6 yards out for a score. Weber received the kickoff and began to put together a solid drive until the storm rolled in and the game was put on hold.
A quick 90 minutes later and the squads were back out with Weber still in possession after the delay. On the team's first play, running back Nakosi Swain slipped and fell for a loss — presumably due to the turf being wet from the rain. That led to a change of possession and another Bingham score.
Down 14-0 with the game on the verge of getting out of hand, Weber quarterback Aidan Carter pieced together a beautiful drive in which he completed 7-of-10 passes for 80 yards to set up running back Austin Gussie for a score from the 3-yard line to put Weber on the board.
It was at this point when Bingham took absolute control of the game. The Miners were able to score one last time before the end of the second quarter, and then opened the second half with a bang when Sudbury hit a wide-open hole for a 65-yard dash into the end zone. The junior running back was able to score three times in the first start of his high school career.
"We had our backside tackle come through to the linebacker, and I cut back," Sudbury said. "As soon as I cut back, that field was wide open and I was off to the races."
After giving up two quick scores, Weber struggled to build any momentum in the second half. Facing a double-digit deficit, Carter did not play with the same poise and confidence he had in the first half, which was partly due to constant pressure from the Miners defense dominating Weber's offensive line.
Weber went on to score once more, albeit in garbage time, when Carter connected with Crue Coggins, who made an impressive effort to reach across the goal line as he was being tackled. It was the only passing touchdown of the game.
Make no mistake, it was the first of what will likely be many wins for Jones in Bingham, but he made sure to give a lot of the credit to the players that made it happen.
"These kids are just really coachable," Jones said. "They've had to learn new schemes on offense three years in a row. They had to learn a new scheme for the first time in a really long time with what I like to do defensively. The kids take that coaching well and they went out and executed."
