One of Utah’s notable high school football rivalries was renewed Thursday as Alta defeated Bingham 23-13 in a nonregion matchup. The Hawks controlled the line of scrimmage and never trailed, moving their record to 16-14 against the Miners.
Tucker Brown, quarterback for Alta, contributed with both a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown. He completed 26 of 37 passes for 236 yards without any interceptions. Brown said, “We were definitely motivated (…) I grew up watching this game. We all know its history and how much it means to everyone. You could see it out there. We know each other. It got a little chippy and you saw the personal foul penalties.”
Both teams are led by second-year coaches. Alta’s Blake Burdette and Bingham’s Josh Johnson agreed last year to resume this cross-town series, which once featured annual matchups between 2004 and 2014 when the programs frequently competed for state titles in Utah’s top classification.
Burdette commented after the game, “This was a good showing for us … after last week (…) This was more of what Alta football is about. We want to play hard and physical and make teams know they have played Alta.” Last week, his team lost its season opener against Springville despite an early lead.
The Hawks’ offensive line supported the running game while giving Brown enough time to connect with receivers Ber Strong, Evan Morton, Trevyn Cooke and Trevyn Fabrizio on short routes. These connections helped secure several third-down conversions.
Jack McAllister added three field goals for Alta, while the team’s defense kept Bingham scoreless until early in the fourth quarter. For the game, Alta ran 76 plays compared to Bingham’s 44.
Evan Morton caught a 30-yard touchdown from Brown on Alta’s second drive of the night. After Bingham closed within nine points early in the fourth quarter, Brown led a methodical drive that ended with his own 13-yard touchdown run that sealed the win.
Bingham narrowed the gap with late touchdowns but was hampered by two personal-foul penalties after scoring plays; one penalty moved their required two-point conversion attempt back by fifteen yards, leading to an incomplete pass attempt.
Senior quarterback Boston Singley led Bingham but struggled offensively along with teammate Teki Finau; both left late in the game due to injuries that had not been further detailed as of Thursday night.
