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SOUTH JORDAN — People from around the country tuned in to ESPN on Friday night to watch Corner Canyon take on Bingham in a high-profile 6A matchup. While the game was close early, Corner Canyon’s high-powered offense was too much for the Miners as they pulled away in the second half to win 42-19.
Corner Canyon quarterback Jaxon Dart led the way for the Chargers throwing for 277 yards and six touchdowns; he also led his team in rushing with 110 yards.
"We just feel super fortunate to be playing right now with the circumstances going on," Dart said. "It is a high school football player’s dream to play on ESPN and I think we played pretty good."
When you have six touchdown passes, you are going to have a lot of receivers who find their way into the end zone, and that was exactly the case for the Chargers. Dart hit Talmage Handle and Noah Kjar for two touchdown each and Jett Meine and Cody Hagen for one apiece.
"They’re a great group of guys," Dart said. "When I transferred here, we started playing in the 7-on-7 circuit and our chemistry has continued to grow from there, and it feels really good to go out there and show everybody what we’ve got."
The Chargers defense gave up 13 points in the first half but responded in the second by holding the Miners offense scoreless until the final few minutes of the fourth. Head coach Eric Kjar said the adjustments his team made at halftime where simple: just go back to basics.
"We did a really good job of staying with more base stuff in the second half," Kjar said. "We made adjustments and used different looks coming in and we decided to go back to our base stuff in the second."
One key player to the team’s offensive and defensive success is center and defensive tackle Jackson Light. The future Oregon Duck made sure Dart had all the time he needed to go through his progressions and also helped slow down the Bingham rushing attack. His effect on the game did not go unnoticed by his head coach who had lofty praise for the four-year starter.
"He’s such a special player and I think he’s the best player in the state," Kjar said. "He plays the game with a lot of passion and energy, which is why he’s
able to go out there and dominate each week."
The Miners struggled to put together a complete game. Luck seemed to be on Bingham’s side early as they had a 35-yard field goal bounce off the crossbar to give them an early 3-0 lead. On their next drive, punter Parker Gurr moved the chains with two separate fake punts. The Miners were able to capitalize and running back Saia Lomu found the end zone to give Bingham a 10-7 lead.
Unfortunately for the Miners, they struggled to move the ball the rest of the night. Three-star wide receiver Isiah Glasker was held in check all night until late in the fourth when he finally found the end zone. Quarterback Troy Mehn and the rest of the Bingham passing game struggled to find any rhythm, leading to a one-dimensional offense that could not stabilize a drive until it was too late.
Corner Canyon moves to 3-0 on the season and will travel to face the Jordan Beetdiggers (0-3) next week. Bingham sits at 0-2 and will look for there first win of the season when they host the Timpview Thunderbirds (0-2) Friday.
