If anybody on Bingham didn't think they knew Fahu Tahi well enough after watching hours and hours of film on the state's best player before Friday night, they know him now. Heck, the entire Bingham defense could probably pick his face out of a lineup.
That's because the Miner defenders spent the entire first half - and the majority of the game, really - introducing themselves to the Granger fullback eye-to-eye on the bottom of blue-and-white piles. The Miners had more men chasing Tahi than the FBI had stalking Ted Kazynski. It worked, as the Miners contained the fullback just enough to claim second place in Region 2 with a 42-23 whipping of Granger on the road.Okay, so maybe "contained" is a bad word. Tahi did have 232 yards, but 177 of those came in the second half with the Lancers already trailing 28-3. Tahi broke off touchdown runs of 73 and 66 yards to get his team as close as 35-23, but it wasn't near enough to make up the difference.
"They had some early mistakes that we took advantage of," said Bingham coach Sonny Sudbury. "(Tahi) is the best running back in the state and you can't keep him down the hole game. But we got to him early and were able to get a lead on them."
Tahi only had 39 yards in the first half, then came out in the second half and fumbled away the ball on Granger's first two drives. Bingham defensive lineman Andy Roper fell on both bobbles. The offense converted the second Tahi turnover into seven points to make it a 28-3 game.
Tahi took off from there, but not even he could run that far.
For Bingham, it was a different look Friday night. The Miners usually put on a better aerial show than the Blue Angels, but against Granger, Bingham quarterback Jake Schroeder spent more time sticking the ball into his backs' chests than he did zipping spirals through the air.
Of Bingham's six touchdowns, five came on the ground.
"I've never played behind an offensive line that good," said Kelly Peck, who scored twice. "This is the best the line has played since I've been here."
Schroeder had 163 yards through the air, but only 61 in the second half when the Miners went strictly to power football.
"We were trying to hold onto the ball," explained Sudbury. "We just wanted to keep the lead and get out of here with a win."