Bingham football in unfamiliar territory
Sep 23, 2019 01:14PM ● By Josh Mc Fadden
Bigham quarterback Troy Mehn (No. 7) drops back to pass in a game earlier this season. (Photo by Pat McDonald.)
By Josh McFadden | [email protected]
Over the past 13 years, the Bingham Miners have been the gold standard in Utah high school football.
Since 2006, the Miners have won six state championships and have not lost more than two regular season games.
Things have been different this season.
On Sept. 19, the Miners suffered their second loss of the season, falling to Herriman for the first time ever, 24-14, in the Region 3 opener. Bigham fell behind 14-0 at the end of the first quarter and played catch-up the rest of the way. Troy Mehn and Mason Christensen scored on 1-yard TD plunges for Bingham.
The Miners allowed just 82 yards on the ground and picked off Herriman twice, but the team also gave up a pair of Herriman TD passes and was sacked four times.
Bingham also suffered a rare blowout loss three weeks earlier on Aug. 30. Emerging state power Corner Canyon entertained its home crowd with a 56-28 rout of the Miners. Bingham surrendered almost 500 yards of offense on the evening and trailed 34-14 at the break. The Miners made things interesting early in the third quarter on a 31-yard touchdown pass from Mehn to Isaiah Glasker. That made it 41-28 with 11:46 left to play. However, Corner Canyon scored 15 straight points to end the contest. It was the most points Bingham has given up in 20 years.
The have plenty of highlights to the season.
In Bingham’s 3-2 start, it blew out Weber, 41-24; Taylorsville, 38-0; and Westlake, 47-14. Mehn tossed nine touchdown passes during this stretch, six of them to Glasker, who also racked up nearly 300 yards receiving. Preston Larson has been a reliable running back. The senior had more than 400 rushing yards and seven touchdowns in the first five contests.
Though the defense hasn’t put up the stout numbers of years past, the team picked off three passes and in the first five games. The Miners gave up 38 points in its three victories compared to 80 points in the two defeats.
Bingham has plenty of opportunities left to climb up the region standings in the six-team Region 3. Bingham hosts East on Sept. 26 and plays at Riverton Oct. 4. The Miners then play at home against Jordan Oct. 11, followed by the regular season finale Oct. 18 at Copper Hills.
