5A high school football preview: Davis vs. Bingham

Today, 2:30 p.m. — Rice-Eccles Stadium (field turf)

TV: KJZZ — Radio: 1230 AM — Parry's Power Guide: Bingham by 13

There are some advantages to playing in a championship game when everyone thinks you're a decided underdog, which is the case for the Davis Darts today.

The Darts know there's little pressure on them to defeat mighty Bingham in the 5A title game. The Miners have been the 5A favorite throughout the season, haven't lost to an in-state team and looked daunting in eliminating Alta in the semifinals last week.

That's just fine with Davis, which is coming into today's game with a "nobody believes in us" mentality, and that can make a team dangerous.

"We just worry about ourselves," said Davis two-way starter Josh Kariya. "People never really give Davis a lot of credit. But we're not too worried about that. We do what we do — run the ball and play great defense."

Although the Miners are heavy favorites in today's game, they aren't looking at it that way. Bingham coach Dave Peck doesn't expect to have any kind of letdown after beating the team's biggest rival last week.

"I'm telling you right now we feel like we've got to play our best game of the season to be state champs," Peck said. "Practices have been good and they (the players) understand what this is about. I guarantee if they (the Darts) beat us, it's not because we were taking them lightly."

Both teams are built for playing football at this time of the year. They each run the ball effectively and play great defense. They feature what may be the two best running backs in the state in Davis' Tanner Hinds and Bingham's Harvey Langi.

"There's a reason why Davis is playing for the state championship — they're better at what they're doing than anybody else," Peck said. "We kind of mirror each other with what we like to do."

No one has been able to stop the Darts' running game since they opened the season with a discouraging 24-0 loss to Brighton. No one has been able to run on Bingham since it lost to Euless Trinity back in September.

It'll really be strength vs. strength on both sides of the ball. The Darts' defense was the first unit to slow Hunter's physical running game in two months in last week's semis. The Miners' bread-and-butter on offense is pounding the ball with Langi and Richie Vakapuna, and they can switch it up and be dynamic with Ty Hannay and Stefan Cantwell taking turns at quarterback.

Davis coach Ryan Bishop said preparing for the Miners can be overwhelming, so the Darts mostly focused on themselves this week.

"They can do a lot of different things," Bishop said of Bingham. "There are certain things you have to do to get ready for, but I think it will drive you nuts if you sit here and worry about Bingham because they're good. Our approach this week (was) the same as any other week."

e-mail: aaragon@desnews.com