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SOUTH JORDAN — All in all, Skyridge has had better nights.
There was the turnover right before halftime and the interception in the third quarter. Then there were the missed throws, the dropped passes and penalties.
"Not perfect, not clean," Skyridge coach Justin Hemm said.
Maybe not … but it still equaled a four-touchdown victory. The Falcons rode a dominant defensive performance to a 38-10 win over Bingham to improve to 3-1 on the season.
"The boys battled hard, and we made plays when we needed to," Hemm said.
At no time was that more obvious than late in the first half. Bingham's defense forced a turnover and set the Miners' offense up deep into Falcons territory. A few plays later, Bingham had to settle for a field goal.
That defensive stand kept it a two-possession game going into the break.
"That was huge for us, right?" Hemm said. "Because that changes things — 21 to 14, instead of 21-10 is big."
Key defensive stops were the theme of the night for the Falcons. Senior defensive back Darian Diarte picked off Bingham quarterback Ayden Dunn in the second quarter, setting up a 10-yard rushing touchdown by Jared Iakopo that made it 21-7.
Once Skyridge had that lead, the Falcons' defensive linemen were able to pin their ears back and go after the quarterback. It was tough sledding for Bingham's offense after that.
"It's good for us when we play with the lead," Hemm said. "We feel like we can control the ball running, and we like being a rush the passer."
Zaeden Selu had two rushing touchdowns to help the Falcons to an early lead. QB Kaneal Sweetwyne finished things off by throwing two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, including a 61-yarder to Jonah Johnson with 11:01 remaining that all but wrapped up the game. And the Falcons racked up 17 points in the final quarter to pull away for good.
Bingham didn't score in the second half.
"We had some guys dinged up, and it was a great opportunity for some other guys to step up and show what they got," Hemm said.
Perfect? Maybe not. But on Friday, it was more than good enough.
