The Bingham Miners have a bad taste in their mouths and its one that a tall glass of water won't get rid of.
It'll take much more than that.
Last year, the Miners ended their season with a disappointing 32-10 drubbing by the Northridge Knights in the Class 5A semifinals.
"There's no question in my mind that they see it as a rematch," Northridge coach Fred Fernandes said. "They have something to prove."
The only remedy for Bingham would be a win over the Knights on the opening night of the 2001 prep football season Friday at Bingham.
"The last game against them we feel we didn't play with a lot of energy," Bingham coach Dave Peck said.
That shouldn't be a problem this year for the No. 4 Miners. Not only do they want a little payback, but the Knights are the defending state champions and enter the year as the No. 1 ranked team by the coaches.
"They proved themselves last year. They are definitely a good team," Peck said of Fred Fernandes' Knights. "Until someone comes and shows they can beat them they are still No. 1."
At the time, Fernandes welcomes the match-up.
"I'd rather play a Bingham or a Skyline early as a yardstick to see where you are," he said. "If you don't play well against them then you know what you need to do to get better."
The game kicks at 7 p.m.
In other games of note on Friday night: Cyprus at Kearns; Skyline at Kahuku, Hawaii (11:30 p.m.); Brighton at Hunter; Box Elder at Viewmont. All games are at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted.
PICKS ON THE WEB: Try your hand at picking the winners of 12 prep football games each week throughout the 2001 prep season. Enter the Deseret News Grid Picks once a week or as many weeks as you would like. The most accurate prognosticators will win cash prizes and T-shirts. Submit your predictions through the Prep Sports page at deseretnews.com/preps.
HONORING VETERANS: Jordan High and Orem High will honor the World War II Veterans that attended either one of those schools before Friday's contest between the two schools at 6:45 p.m. at Jordan High. All World War II veterans will be let in free of charge.
GAME CHANGE: Copper Hills' third game of the year, Aug. 31, with Northridge was originally slated to be played at Copper Hills, but has be changed to Northridge at 7 p.m.
MEET THE COACH: Davis High will introduce its new football coach Ryan Bishop at an intrasquad game and luau Aug. 18 at Davis High School. The luau, at the cost of $10 for adults and $5 for kids 10 and under, will be available from 5-7 p.m. with the game beginning at 7 p.m.
HOOPS CHANGES: East High's Kerry Rupp resigned earlier as the Leopards' head basketball coach, and will take a one-year leave of absence from the Salt Lake City School District to pursue other interests.
After being an assistant coach for six years under Dick Milne, he took over the position in 1989 when Milne retired.
Also, Morgan High coach Jason Young was named Thursday to replace Rob Cuff as the head basketball coach at Mountain View High School. Cuff stepped down earlier in the month to accept a position at the Utah High School Activities Association.
Morgan finished second in Class 3A with a 22-3 record last year.
E-mail: jhinton@desnews.com