Brighton coach Lynn Freestone knew going into Friday night's matchup with longtime rival Bingham that his highly-ranked Bengals were in for dogfight, and he was right.

In a contest that had all the makings of a great Ivy League matchup - hard defense, little scoring and lousy weather - the Bengals held off the Miners 11-8. The win wasn't assured, however, until a last second 55-yard field goal attempt by Bingham fell short at the final gun.Entering Friday's game, neither team had given up any points, Brighton having shut out Idaho Falls 32-0 a week ago, and Bingham dropping Cottonwood 19-0 last week. So the stingy defenses that prevailed for most of Friday's game weren't a surprise.

"I knew we'd be in for a barnburner. It's like this every time we play Bingham. They've got an outstanding program and they always play us tough," Freestone said.

The Bengals totally dominated the first quarter, holding Bingham to just four offensive plays and five total yards. Meanwhile, Brighton moved the ball well twice, once surrendering a punt deep in Bingham territory and the second time marching 31 yards after a short Miner punt for a score.

Brighton's option clicked well on the second drive, the big play coming on a 16 yard gainer by Todd Sofonia to the Bingham four. Three plays later, Tyler Carrol dived in from the one, but Alex Rodriguez's PAT sailed off the right upright, and Brighton led 6-0 after one quarter.

The Bengals were poised to score again on their next drive, moving to the Bingham goalline before a great fourth down tackle by Matt Maynard literally stopped Glenn Damon on the six-inch line. On the next play, Bingham quarterback Cory Price slipped in the endzone, finally being tackled by Sofonia for a safety that gave Brighton an 8-0 advantage.

Bingham's best first-half field position came after Kevin Bunnell returned a punt 20 the Brighton 46. The Miners moved to the Brighton 31, but Sean Hagen picked off a pass as time expired. Brighton's dominance of the first half was borne out in the offensive yards gained by both teams. Brighton picked up 126 yards, 68 via the passing of QB Eric Lloyd, who hit 8 of 10 passes. Bingham was limited to minus-one yard rushing, and no yards passing.

The second half was a complete reversal of fortune for both teams, however. The Miners came out fired up, moving on their first drive from the Bingham 25 to the Brighton 26, from where a field goal attempt was just wide. After the ensuing Brighton drive stalled, Bingham's all-around superstar Barry Fullmer recovered a punt blocked by Jonathon Anderson at the Brighton 15.

Though the drive stalled without Bingham scoring, the Miners maintained their momentum throughout the quarter, keeping Brighton in check.

Bingham's lone score was set up by a strange play just as the fourth quarter began. Brighton was faced with a fourth-and-19 at the Bingham 43, but Freestone figured the Bingham special teams, which had been hard charging all night long, might be prone to a fake.

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"Sometimes you have to take a chance," he reflected afterwards. "They'd been coming at us the whole game and we thought we might catch them by surprise."

Instead, the pass fell incomplete, and Bingham took advantage of the opportunity. Price led his troops 57 yards in seven plays, the final call a brilliant 27 yard pass which Fullmer hauled in with a defender on his back for the score. Price then rolled out to the right and hit Danny Harris with the two-point conversion to tie the game at 8-all with 8:28 left.

Brighton wasted little time regaining the lead, however, thanks mainly to Lloyd. After Brighton returned Bingham's kickoff to the 27, Lloyd kept the ball on the option on first down, breaking over left tackle and zigzagging his way 62 yards to the Bingham 11. The Miners held defensively, so Freestone turned to Rodriguez again, and this time his 27 yard field goal with 6:13 left proved to be the game-winner.

To its credit, Bingham never gave up. The Miners' final hopes seemed to end when they lost the ball on downs at the Brighton 46, but a fumbled pitch recovered by Mike DiFrancesco at the Bengal 39 gave the Miners hope. After three pass attempts fell incomplete, Bingham's last-second kick from 55 yards was short, and the Bengals prevailed.

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