Battle of the Haka

An opportunity of a lifetime turned into an outcome to forget for Bingham as they took to the road in Texas to face Euless Trinity, a HS football power, in the Kirk Herbstreit Challenge. The game was being played at the new state of the art Cowboys Stadium just 2 days after the Miners watched Brigham Young upset Oklahoma on the same turf. As the game started it was apparent that the only two things that the two teams had in common were their pregame “Haka” dances and their elite running backs (Harvey Langi for Bingham, & Tevin Williams for Trinity).

Throughout the game Euless Trinity used the shiftiness of Tevin Williams and smooth hands of Bobby Brown to make big play after big play, although the longest touchdown of the day came on a pass play from Bingham quarterback Stephan Cantwell to Josh Smith.

The game got under way with a 49 yard touchdown run by Tevin Williams on the first series of the game, and that was only the beginning for the junior tailback that finished with over 200 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns. As Bingham took over on their first possession, they quickly went three plays and out. They quickly got rid of their nerves by the next time they got the ball however and it was a tie at 7 all.

The game soon after, turned quickly in Trinity’s favor as they reeled off three consecutive touchdowns including two by Bobby Brown and another by Williams to go up 28 to 7 on Bingham in the third quarter.

The surprising thing to come out of the game was that while Bingham junior, Harvey Langi was consistent, he didn’t have many big runs that those familiar with Utah’s HS football scene had grown accustomed to. This wasn’t because of a lack of a run game, it was due to Trinity’s quick scoring drives and Bingham having to play catch-up by the end of the second quarter.

Bingham showed no signs of giving up towards the end of the game as they pulled an interesting move of rotating their QBs, Hannay & Cantwell, but it was too little too late as Trinity added to their lead towards the end of the game to double up Bingham 42 to 21.

While Bingham showed glimpses of their great potential, one thing was abundantly clear. The state of Texas is a breeding ground for the best in football. As Utah people watched this game, one couldn’t help but wonder, is one of these Trinity guys going to be the next Brian Johnson, Brice McCain, or McKay Jacobsen. Bingham now comes back to Utah knowing what it takes to compete with the best and with Langi in their backfield, their possibilities for the rest of their season are endless.