It's hard to believe that last year's state runners-up could be 3-0, with the best defensive end in the time zone and still be unheralded.

But that's exactly the case for Davis, which is perhaps a victim of geography, consistency or the bare-bones fact that it isn't Bingham.

"I just like flying under the radar and trying to do our deal week in and week out," Davis coach Ryan Bishop said.

The Darts have outscored their opponents 134-21, including a 30-7 rout of Region 1 foe Weber on Friday. In that game, defensive end Troy Hinds recorded a pair of sacks to only further bolster a résumé that has already caught the eyes of coaches from as far away as Nebraska and Washington State.

Bishop said he doesn't worry about who is getting recognition or being pumped up as title contenders, but even he concedes that it's hard to argue with the acclaim Bingham has earned this season.

"It's a no-brainer that everybody's talking about that," he said. "Again, we're not offended or anything else that we're not in those conversations. We're just trying to do our deal. The last thing in my mind is what's going to happen in the playoffs, we just want to make the playoffs."

It's maybe a laughable concept that the team with maybe the best chance of knocking off Bingham in the playoffs is worried about making the playoffs. But it makes sense, given that Region 1 has proved to be a free-for-all, with Northridge, Syracuse, Fremont and Layton all looking like playoff teams. "I know first hand that anything can happen and anybody can play with anybody on any given week," he said.

4A quarterbacks shine

Mountain Crest's Alex Kuresa, by default, is regarded as the best quarterback in 4A, if not the entire state. After leading the Mustangs to a comeback win over Woods Cross Friday, he probably helped his case for the title, too.

Still, a handful of other 4A quarterbacks could make a case in the early season. Westlake's John Ursua has been tremendous, but even more so has been Springville's Steve Bate. Through three games, he's thrown for 11 touchdowns and the Red Devils have scored 137 points.

Speaking of quarterbacks, Alta's Boston Handley has had some tough fourth quarters. Handley, the latest in a long line of senior quarterbacks for the Hawks, has been tremendous despite Alta's 0-3 start. In each of those losses, Handley has thrown late picks that have killed his team's hopes of a comeback.

Against Cottonwood, he threw a pick-six that won the game for the Colts, then against Bingham he threw two fourth-quarter interceptions that led to the game getting out of hand. At Timpview on Friday, Handley threw interceptions at the end of both the third and fourth quarters when the Hawks were trying to get back into the game.

The late-game performances have been atypical of Handley's overall performance this season, in which he has proven to have one of the best arms in the state and to be a fearless runner.

boram@sltrib.com On Twitter: @oramb, @tribpreps