American Fork • Bingham quarterback Ryan Wood dropped back on third-and-17 and saw wide receiver Brayden Cosper.
“I saw the coverage and I knew it was going to go to him,” Wood said. “I overthrew him a little, and he came down and made a great catch again for me, so we love to have him.”
Cosper held onto the ball for a 25-yard reception and a first down while diving toward the sideline. The BYU commit’s catch kept the drive alive, and the Miners went on to score their first touchdown on the game. That was the kind of effect Cosper had in Bingham’s 48-21 win Friday.
BINGHAM 48, AMERICAN FORK 21 <br>• Bingham finishes the season undefeated, pushing its winning streak to 23 games. <br>• The Miners claim the Region 4 title with the win. <br>•BYU commit Brayden Cooper finishes with 197 yards receiving and a touchdown for Bingham.
Bingham (9-0) finished the regular season undefeated and claimed first place in Region 4.
Cosper ended the night with 197 yards receiving, a touchdown and two 45-plus-yard receptions.
“He made some just tremendous catches today,” Bingham coach John Lambourne said about Cosper. “We got lucky — not him, we — lucky in a couple situations where they had us well-defended and he was able to make the play. So yeah he’s something. He’s terrific.”
The Miners didn’t score their first touchdown — a 15-yard run by running back Braedon Wissler— until just 2:13 remained in the first half. They then added a second on their last drive of the half on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Wood to Dax Milne.
Bingham’s scoring power came from kicker Brandon Lopez for the majority of the first half. Lopez kicked two field goals — 44 yards and 37 yards, respectively. The Miners defense shut out the Cavemen before the intermission to lead 20-0 at the break.
Cosper’s 12-yd touchdown reception three minutes into the third quarter gave the Miners a 27-0 lead before American Fork was able to get on the board.
Cavemen quarterback Bronson Barron threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Chase Roberts midway through the third quarter. He connected with him again on a 15-yard pass on the next drive to cut the Cavemen deficit to 27-14. Then Amoni Kailili gave Bingham a momentum-swinging boost with a 76-yard TD run to put the Miners up 34-14 in the final minute of the third quarter.