Bingham overcomes sluggish start to best Mountain Ridge in Top 10 matchup


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HERRIMAN — Bingham coach Eric Jones was pretty blunt about his thoughts on his team's early performance against Mountain Ridge on Friday.

He said the Sentinels came out ready to play and the Miners did not. He summed up his team's first quarter as "soft." That's how Mountain Ridge took an early 10-0 lead.

Fortunately for Jones and Bingham, there were three other quarters left to play.

The No. 8 Miners rebounded from a slow start to roll past the No. 9 Sentinels 24-13 in the KSL.com Game of the Week at Mountain Ridge High.

"Honestly, attitude," Jones said of his team's response after the rough early minutes. "Mountain Ridge came out in the first quarter and punched us in the face. They wanted it more, they played harder than us. … We were able to make some adjustments and we answered, come back out and shut them out in the second half."

Bingham quarterback Dallin Martinez got the Miners rolling with a 15-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter. He then found Carson Sudbury near the back of the end zone for a 2-yard score near the end of the half to give Bingham a 14-13 lead at halftime.

Mountain Ridge didn't score again.

"We didn't have to change much X's and O's wise, our kids just didn't come ready to play," Jones said of his defense's second half.

Sudbury found paydirt again in the third quarter, slipping a tackle as he got the ball on his way to a 48-yard score to make it 21-13. Bingham's defense then intercepted Jaxson Reiser, which led to a field goal to make it a two-score game.

"I feel like our entire backfield was just threat after threat with Maddax Peck, Havea Fotu, Colin Sudbury and Dallin Martinez," Jones said. "I mean, I wouldn't want a game plan for our kids, because they are a lot to handle back there."

While the Miners had a dominant final three quarters, the game itself was another reminder to Jones that his team is still searching for consistency.

"Every week we keep having similar problems — whether it's emotional or mental breakdowns — and that's my fault as a coach to try to get that fixed and cleaned up," he said. "But I feel like if this group could put a full four quarters together, we can play with just about anyone out there."

The Miners' only two losses this season have come to Corner Canyon and Timpview, both of which are ranked in the Top 5. In both those games, Bingham also fell behind by double digits in the first half.

"There's really good teams across the state, especially in Region 4 and Region 3 and all the way up north," Jones said. "We aren't good enough to just show up and win; it's a mindset thing. We've gotta start showing up ready to play, so that's on me to try and fix that."

On Friday, the Miners got it fixed in time.

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