MALAD — Malad junior quarterback Dallas Degn doesn’t want any credit for what the Dragons’ football team has accomplished so far this season.

The Dragons are 4-0 and boast a powerful offense that hasn’t been held under 28 points going into tonight’s home game at 7 p.m. against Bear Lake. Degn said that’s because Malad has a great offensive line, top wide receivers and a star running back.

Officially, through four games, Degn has thrown for 10 touchdowns against just one interception, which came on the last play of the first half in the season opener against Marsh Valley. In Degn’s eyes, his personal line should read no touchdowns and one interception.

Sure, he was the one throwing the ball on all 10 touchdowns, but the play only happened because his offensive line blocked and his wide receiver made the catch.

“I just throw the ball,” Degn said. “The line protects me, so I can sit back there, look around and find whoever I want. The receivers make the catches and do the rest of the work.”

His is a minority opinion of one. Talk to Degn’s receivers or to Malad coach McKay Young and they’ll tell you how pleased they are with their quarterback and how vital a part he is of what Malad has done this year.

“We’ve made some good plays, but that’s just Dallas being humble about it,” said Malad wide receiver Donovan Hollis, who has caught three of Degn’s touchdown passes this year. “He’s just congratulating his whole team. Rather than saying ‘I made that pass’, he’s said, ‘(It’s a) team effort, and we did a good job out there.’ But he’s got a lot to do with it. He’s a good quarterback.”

Young is just as impressed with Degn’s performance. He had high expectations for what the junior could do when the season started, but Degn’s performance has gone beyond what Young knew he was capable of doing.

That started in the Dragons’ second game of the season at Firth. Young had hesitated to give Degn too much responsibility too quickly in Malad’s season opener against Marsh Valley because he’d seen what the Eagles could do to a quarterback’s confidence the year before.

Against Firth, Young took the shackles off and let Degn show him what he could do. Degn responded by throwing for 314 yards and three touchdowns against the Cougars, leading Malad to a 54-0 victory.

That night in Firth, the Dragons knew they had found something special at the quarterback position.

“I felt like he really got confident and his teammates got confident in him,” Young said. “Since then, it’s like he’s played two or three seasons as the guy.”

The difference is obvious in the fact that there is little difference in how the Dragons run their offense. Last year, the Dragons had Kaden Goddard in his third year running the offense, which allowed them to do things most 2A teams could not. 

Degn began the 2010 season having thrown all of six passes, but through four games, he’s handled the offense just as well as Goddard did, making the jobs of his coaches and his receivers much simpler.

“Dallas has stepped up really well,” said receiver Tyrell Hubbard, who’s hauled in four touchdown passes. “He’s kept his head and played good ball, I think. He makes my job really easy. We just have to run routes and catch the ball. He gets the ball there pretty much all the time, so I just have to use my hands.”

The only one in orange and black who can’t — or doesn’t want to — recognize Degn’s skill is Degn himself. He’ll talk about his receivers or his line or running back Braden Bennett all day, but as far as he’s concerned, whenever Dallas Degn succeeds, it’s only because he had his teammates’ help.

“Coming into the season, I wanted to do what coach Young asked when he calls a pass play, complete the pass and do what the team needs,” Degn said. “They’re helping me and making me look good.”