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LEHI — Bingham had top-ranked Skyridge up against the ropes, using the momentum of a goal-line stand and a 96-yard pass to turn a 28-14 halftime game into a 28-all matchup with one quarter to play.
Jackson Stevens and Trent Call only needed one play to switch the momentum back in the Falcons' favor.
Stevens threw for 377 yards and four touchdowns, including the game-winning touchdown to Trent Call with 10:53 to go that helped No. 1 Skyridge survive the Miners 35-28 Friday night.
Call hauled in four catches for 154 yards and two touchdowns for the Falcons (4-0), who got 79 yards and a score from La'akea Kalama.
"I was really proud of Trent all week. He really set his focus at the start of the week to making this state championship-focused team," said Stevens, who has an offer from Southern Utah and is drawing recruiting interest across the Mountain West after opening his senior year with 1,006 yards and 10 touchdowns with just one interception. "He was definitely the team leader, and he deserves it. He works his butt off, he ran the perfect route, and the rest is history. But I'm really proud of Trent; he had himself a game tonight."
Skyridge jumped out to a 14-0 lead on a pair of touchdowns from Stevens, one with his legs and another on a 43-yard strike to Call with 55 seconds left in the first quarter.
But the 13th-ranked Miners (1-3) didn't go away, and Arona Ka'ili found Triston Brimhall on fourth-and-6 at the 35-yard line for a touchdown with 1:58 left in the half that cut the deficit to 21-14.
That's when Stevens ran the two-minute drill to perfection, capping the drive with a 14-yard touchdown to Trevan McClellan to put the Falcons up 28-14 at the break.
Stevens was rolling in the first half, completing 15-of-21 passes for 251 yards and three scores, including touchdowns of 43 and 17 yards to Call and Kalama, respectively. But the Miners didn't go down for the count at that point. Instead, they started throwing haymakers.
After Ka'ili opened the third quarter with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Sudbury, Skyridge responded with a red-zone drive that included first-and-goal at the 10.
But the Miners' defense held on the goal line stand, and Ka'ili escaped his own end zone by finding Makoy Alono with a 96-yard pass that set up Sudbury's game-tying 3-yard TD splash with 2:21 left in the third.
"Our guys stayed cool, calm and collected, even when things seemed to be shifting in a different direction," Skyridge coach Justin Hemm said. "Bingham made a great goal-line stop that really started to get that thing going, and there were 3-4 plays that had they went differently, we might've been able to separate ourselves. But coach Jones does a great job, this is a terrific Bingham team, and they came ready to go."
There's a reason why Hemm scheduled the Miners during the defending 6A champion's non-region slate before a loaded Region 3 schedule.
The Falcons answered the test, capped by a post route that Call told Stevens would be wide open mere moments before the two connected on the game-winning score with his summertime golfing buddy. Kopo Malufau and Veni Tokelau had a pair of sacks and Tavian Edwards sealed the win with an interception in the final seconds.
"I think we needed this game to prepare for playoffs and region," Call said. "We play in the toughest region and we're going to have a tough road to the playoffs. When things get going tough, I think we'll look back on this game and know we can beat any team in the state. Bingham's a good team."
Ka'ili threw for 229 yards and two touchdowns, and Sudbury added 42 yards and two touchdowns on the ground for Bingham.
"This was great for our boys," Hemm said, "to help prepare us for some adverse situations and prepare us for region."
Skyridge travels to Riverton next week before opening Region 3 play at Westlake, while Bingham travels to American Fork before its Region 2 opener at Copper Hills.
