By Brandon Gurney, Deseret News
Published: Thursday, Sept. 1, 2011 11:54 p.m. MDT
Bingham High football coach Dave Peck remembers it well — almost too well.
In 2009, his team had a chance to take on national power Trinity Euless at Cowboys Stadium. Bingham showed well in mounting a comeback after trailing 28-7, but ultimately came up short, losing 42-21.
"It was the last loss I've had as a coach, so yeah, you remember that," said Peck. "We wanted to go out there and show the nation that Utah schools can play with anyone, and I firmly believe that we can play with anyone, although we came up short that day."
Peck and his Bingham team will have another opportunity Saturday to show that they can play with some of the top prep teams in the country with the Miners taking on Southern California powerhouse Orange Lutheran in Mission Viejo, Calif., at 5:30 p.m. MT.
Both Timpview and Alta are making the trip as well. The T-Birds kick off the day taking on Bakersfield at 11:30 a.m., followed by the Hawks battling Crenshaw at 2:15 p.m.
"It's a great opportunity not just for us, but for all three schools to represent well for the state of Utah," said Peck. "We have great football here. Some people who have seen us play in the 7-on-7 tournaments against other states know it, and more people are getting to know about what kind of football we have here in the state and at Bingham, but we want to make more people aware of it."
Alta hopes to rebound from last week's heart-breaking loss in the annual Black and Blue game against Bingham. The Hawks fell victim to a last-minute score by the Miners to fall 21-18.
"It was a game that could have gone either way, but we have to learn to execute better during key situations," said Alta coach Bob Stephens. "This week, we'll have a great chance to build some team unity, playing a great and challenging opponent in Crenshaw and we're excited for it."
This weekend's slate of games was brought about after some schedule tinkering by both Stephens and Timpview coach Louis Wong. Both teams were scheduled to play each other during the third week, but opted to join with Bingham in playing their endowment games in Mission Viejo.
"Louis Wong called me up and told me they didn't think they were going to have enough money to travel out to Hawaii, which they had planned as their endowment game," said Stephens. "He told me about a guy named Brian Hercules, who was planning to put together some games in Mission Viejo, and asked if I'd be interested. It just sort of fell in place from there and we got Bingham to join us, which is great."
Crenshaw is the returning champions of the CIF Los Angeles section champions. After dropping its first two games of last season, Crenshaw won its final 12 games by an average score of 52 to 5.
"They're a very, very athletic team," said Stephens. "They won their league last year, blowing out opponents, and they'll likely be the most athletic team we'll ever go against. It will be a challenge, but we'll be up to that challenge I feel."
For Alta players, they couldn't be more excited about the opportunity.
"When coach told us we were going to California to play Crenshaw, we were all very excited," said Alta star defensive back Austin Lee. "It's a great thing for us to go out there and it should be a lot of fun as well. We had a very tough loss to Bingham and this will be nice to get away and play a top team. I can't wait."
Although Bingham is Alta's fiercest rival, Alta players and coaches alike will be pulling hard for them to upset their opponent, Orange Lutheran.
"I really like and respect the players at Bingham and a lot of them are friends," said Lee. "On the field, we want to beat them bad, but off of it, I want nothing but the best for them. I really hope they win their game."
"I want all three teams to win," said Stephens. "I'm so excited for the kids more than anything. I'm excited to represent the state of Utah and the great football we have here and I just want to win. I want Bingham and Timpview to win and to represent well and I know they will and hopefully we can join them."
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700175659/High-school-football-Timpview-Alta-and-Bingham-to-play-in-Mission-Viejo-Classic.html?s_cid=Email-5
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