Hawks a definite underdog in showdown with Miners

Whenever they've met on the football field over the past four years, Bingham and Alta have more or less been on equal footing.

Not so much this time around.

For the first time in a while — possibly since Bingham and Alta met in the 2006 preseason — the highly anticipated and hugely entertaining showdown between the state's two football juggernauts will feature a clear favorite and a clear underdog.

One need only look at what happened in Week 1 last Friday to figure out who's who.

While nationally ranked Bingham, which features one of the best senior classes in state history, was absolutely dominating Viewmont, Alta found itself on the wrong end of a crazy game at Cottonwood, as the Hawks surrendered a fourth-quarter lead on a couple of crucial plays and ultimately lost.

Rest assured that Alta coach Les Hamilton has seen the tape of Bingham's crushing Week 1 victory and understands that almost everyone regards his team as an underdog when Bingham and Alta renew the state's best football rivalry at 8 p.m. Saturday inside Rice-Eccles Stadium.

"History tells us this is gonna be a tough, hard-fought battle, (but) we are the underdog. There's no ifs, ands or buts about it," Hamilton said.

In studying Bingham on tape, Hamilton found what virtually everyone else in the state has found — that the Miners are really, really good.

"They're fantastic in every phase of the game — offense, defense, special teams," he said. "We know we've got an uphill battle, and we know we're gonna have to play a perfect game to beat 'em.

"But that's part of the challenge, that's part of the fun. We don't really feel any pressure because they're supposed to beat us. So we're gonna go out there, we're gonna play hard and try to limit our mistakes and see what happens."

In studying his own team on tape, Hamilton said the biggest thing his guys need to do is to play more consistently.

"You can practice things, but you get into a game situation, and with real bullets flying, kids make mistakes," he said. "At Alta, a lot of our guys don't get to play much their junior years, so now we're expecting our seniors — who may or may not have gotten a lot of playing time as juniors — to make varsity-type plays.

"We've got some work to be able to make the right reads, the right plays every time."

Bingham and Alta have teamed up with the Swing for Life organization, which is dedicated to raising funds in the fight against breast cancer, to raise money this week, and Hamilton expects an electric crowd — as always — once the two teams take the field before a huge crowd.

"Hopefully we can get 20,000-25,000 people to come out and watch this game, raise some money for a good cause, get our kids out there and play a great game and provide the community with some great entertainment," said Hamilton.