MANTI — Good luck finding a region more up in the air than the 2A North region.

In a coaches preseason straw poll, North Summit, Manti and Juab each received two first-place votes, two second-place votes and one third-place vote, meaning all three can technically claim region favorite status.

It's inevitable one of these teams will pull away, and with Griffin Aste back for his third year at starting quarterback, that team could very well be Manti.

"He's got a lot of experience and he's really starting to see things now," said Manti coach Cole Meacham. "He's starting to see the field, starting to make the reads, whereas as a sophomore he was running around scared trying not to get killed with young linemen in front of him."

That sophomore year definitely didn't go smoothly for anyone in the program as Manti finished with a 1-8 record, perhaps an inevitability with just three seniors. As a junior last year, Aste helped lead Manti to a 7-4 record and an eventual 21-7 loss to Grand in the 2A quarterfinals.

Now a senior, this is Aste's year to shine.

"I think I get the feel for what we're trying to do, the whole overall picture," said Aste.

At 6-foot-3, 205 pounds, Aste isn't your prototypical 2A quarterback. Physically, he's got the traits to be a college quarterback. He's more likely to play defense at the next level, though. Neighboring Snow College has expressed interest in Aste as a linebacker, an opportunity Aste said he'd love.

For Manti, he starts at defensive end out of necessity, and Meacham said Aste was Manti's best defender as a sophomore and was very good last year as well.

There's no reason he shouldn't dominate the defensive line during his senior season, but Manti's success will depend largely on what he does at quarterback.

Manti runs "The Fly" offense, a modified version of the Wing-T. It's a run-oriented offense, but Aste has a good enough arm and several complementary receivers for Manti to balance things out with the pass.

Meacham says he plans on using Aste's athleticism by rolling him out a lot more this year and forcing defenders to commit to either the run or the pass. If he's developed as much as it appears — something a visit to John Beck's camp in Provo this summer no doubt enhanced — it could make Manti's offense extremely difficult to stop.

"This is the most excited I've ever been for a football season," said Aste. "It's all been leading up to our senior year. There's high expectations; hopefully, we can meet them."

2A NORTH PROJECTIONS

(Preseason rankings are based on coaches' votes)