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HERRIMAN — The Herriman football team erupted onto the field jumping and hollering. Music blared from the speakers as fans chanted loudly and proudly.
On the Herriman High scoreboard, there is space reserved to honor the team’s state championships. So far there is only one year listed: 2015. It’s hard to believe that lone championship was celebrated any harder than the win on Thursday night.
For the first time ever, Herriman beat Bingham.
The Mustangs (5-1; 1-0 Region 3) used a stifling defense, some opportune special team plays and one key offensive drive to top the Miners 24-14 on Thursday at home.
“If you want to be a complete program, you have to continue to take steps forward,” Herriman coach Dustin Pearce said. “Our kids have worked really hard for this. Not just this year but in past years."
How big was this win for the Mustangs?
Herriman had been shut out in its last four regular-season games against the Miners and had been knocked out of the playoffs by Bingham the past two years. It was no wonder why the Herriman students chanted, “We hate Bingham” before the start of the game.
But Thursday proved to be cathartic.
Herriman used a fake punt run for a touchdown, multiple forced turnovers and a much-needed touchdown throw from Jaxon James to Alex Anderson to help ease a decade’s worth of disappointment. The Mustangs could finally celebrate a win over Bingham.
The scene following the game was reminiscent to the one from three weeks ago at Corner Canyon when the Chargers blew out Bingham to announce their arrival into 6A.
Have the Miners taken a step back? Has the dominant force of Utah high school been caught?
Bingham’s run has been historic. Since 2013, the Miners have won four state championships, have had three undefeated seasons (not including going undefeated against Utah teams in 2014) and haven’t lost more than one regular-season game since 2012.
That’s just the most recent history, too. Go back a little further and you find more state titles, more unblemished records, more dominance. It’s been Bingham and then everyone else.
So it’s a little surprising to see Bingham with just a 3-2 record.
The Miners toughest games are behind them, yes, and there is still plenty of time for Bingham to once again look like, well, Bingham. But the Miners’ dominant aura is starting to fade. It won't help that they could be without their starting quarterback Troy Mehn for some time after he suffered what looked to be a serious injury in the loss to the Mustangs.
Thursday, though, wasn’t all about Bingham; it was about Herriman, too. The Mustangs have taken a couple of seasons to settle into the 6A ranks, but with wins over Westlake, American Fork and now Bingham to start the year, they are showing they are among the premier programs in the state.
They've won with defense (they held Westlake to seven points), with offense (they scored 34 to best American Fork) and with special teams (just ask Bingham).
With both teams struggling to move the ball early on Thursday, the Mustangs jumped on a muffed punt inside the red zone, which resulted in a 13-yard touchdown catch by Jaxon Fullwood for the game’s first score. Then, later in the first quarter, punter Kingi Fissipeau made the play of his life.
Fissipeau was given these instructions for the contest: If he saw an opening as he prepared to punt, he was free to run. Late in the first quarter, he saw an opening.
“I was trying to tell our blockers to go left, but they didn't hear me,” Fissipeau said.
None of the Bingham defenders did either. That allowed Fissipeau to run and run and run. He didn’t stop until he reached the end zone following a 45-yard scamper.
“I was like, ‘I just gotta get that first down’ and then I passed it and was like, ‘I'll keep going, I got it. I will keep going,’” Fissipeau said.
He was just one of the heroes on Thursday. James led a critical third-down drive that ended with a 20-yard touchdown throw to Anderson and the Herriman defense forced two fumbles and two interceptions. It took a complete team effort to finally knock off the Miners.
“It's changed,” Fissipeau said of his team. ”It's so changed and the brotherhood in this program has gotten so much better. We really put our hearts out there for each other.”
While beating Bingham was, no doubt, meaningful to the school and program, the Mustangs want to accomplish more. Much more.
“We're going to take this momentum and we’re gonna roll forward,” James said. “We're going to go to Rice-Eccles and we're gonna win it. We're gonna do it.”
