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SALT LAKE CITY — The Bingham Miners lived up to their No. 1 ranking Friday, beating Lone Peak 48-13 to advance to the 5A Championship for the first time since 2010.
The Miners racked up 487 yards of total offense and forced three turnovers, while their defense held Lone Peak to just 74 yards of total offense in the first half.
"We have a saying good isn't good enough," said Bingham quarterback Kyle Gearig. "We really took that to heart."
The Miners rushed out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter thanks to two touchdown runs by Scott Nichols and another by quarterback Kyle Gearig.
Bingham led 28-0 before Lone Peak found the end zone on a 35-yard touchdown pass by Baron Gajkowski to Dylan Murdock.
Bingham responded with their biggest play of the game. Gearig avoided a sack in the pocket, found a hole and took off down the sideline for a 79-yard touchdown.
The Miners went into the locker room at halftime with a 35-6 lead, but head coach Dave Peck asked his team for more in the second half.
"Why don't we dare to be great," he challenged his players in the locker room. "That was my challenge to the kids. How many of you dare to be great."
Bingham would add two more touchdowns to build a 48-6 lead.
Lone Peak would add a late score on a 7-yard run by Gajkowski, but Bingham would win comfortably to secure their fifth state championship game appearance since 2006.
Bingham will now prepare for Brighton in next Friday's 5A state championship game. It will be a rematch from a regular season meeting on October 4 that Bingham won 38-27.
The 5A championship kicks off at 2:30 p.m.
