It sounds very simple, but actually doing it is a whole other thing.

The task at hand? Stop Shannon High running back Keon McGaughy to have a chance of beating the Red Raiders.

“The only thing that makes Shannon susceptible (to defeat) is, what are they going to do when they get ahold of team that stops McGaughy?” said North Pontotoc football coach J.J. Plummer, whose team surrendered 169 rushing yards and a touchdown to McGaughy on 15 attempts during Shannon’s 26-14 win three weeks ago.

“He’s 80 percent of the offense.”

Itawamba AHS head football coach Jamie Mitchell, whose third-ranked team hosts Shannon, the Daily Journal’s top-ranked large school, tonight in Fulton, said the Red Raiders are “not one of those tough teams to prepare for” on defense.

“They give it to McGaughy and either kick-out block or block down,” Mitchell said. “He’s one of the top guys in the state.

“They’re a helmet-shoulder pad team, and their offense goes through McGaughy.”

Knowing full well that McGaughy gets the majority of the touches – “You can give it to him anytime you want to give it to him,” said Pontotoc head coach Charlie Dampeer – not even the Daily Journal’s second-ranked large school, West Point, or fifth-ranked Pontotoc or anyone else for that matter could shut down Shannon’s No. 21 this season. The 6-foot-1, 210-pound back has rushed for 1,699 yards and 18 touchdowns. He also has four touchdown receptions.

McGaughy, however, is not the only player in MHSAA’s Division 1-4A to be relied upon to carry his team’s offense. Without Itawamba AHS quarterback Maikhail Miller, Pontotoc running back Randall Crayton and North Pontotoc quarterback Brandon Bailey, Itawamba AHS, Pontotoc and North Pontotoc, respectively, become completely different teams, as Plummer pointed out.

“You always got that one player you depend on to do a lot of things,” said the first-year North Pontotoc coach, whose team also lost to Itawamba AHS and will be playing Pontotoc tonight.

As any coach knows, one player doesn’t single-handedly win football games, and so there’s more to Shannon’s and Itawamba’s 9-0 records (4-0 Division 1-4A).

“Shannon no doubt, hands down, has the best defense we’ve played all year,” Plummer said. “Their defensive line is very fast and very physical. In my opinion, that is their strength of the their football team. That, and big ol’ running back McGaughy.”

With Itawamba, opponents may have to pick their poison when trying to stop the Indians’ offense.

“When Miller is on, I think he’s the best quarterback in the state – between him and (St. Stanislaus’ Dylan) Favre,” said Plummer, who spent last season as Hinds Community College’s recruiting coordinator. “When their receivers make plays, the (Itawamba) offense can score at will.

“Itawamba is not an individual team. They got five or six other receivers. Itawamba has got so many weapons.”

What it boils down to

When watching film of last month’s Itawamba AHS-Tupelo game last month, Plummer said the Indians were “one of the best football teams we’ve seen.”

Plummer said he considers Itawamba AHS to better than Shannon, while his assistants are leaning towards Shannon to come out on top.

But if Itawamba AHS makes mistakes tonight like it did against Pontotoc last week, “Shannon is going to win the football game,” Plummer noted.

“Itawamba will have to throw the football. I know Itawamba’s great running back, No. 5 (Deshawn McGaughy), will have a tough time running the football against them.”

On the opposite side, Plummer said he thinks Shannon – despite not having as good as an offense as IAHS, in his opinion – can move the ball on the Indians.

“Shannon moves the ball so well with that big back (McGaughy) and they can also throw the ball pretty well.”

But, according to Plummer, Itawamba still has a pretty good defense. The Indians defense is led by linebacker Dan Huddleston, who’s “one of the strangest guys we’ve got defensively,” said Mitchell.

“He starts at inside linebacker, and truth be known, he’s one of our top defensive (pass) coverage guys as well,” the IAHS head coach said. “He’s more of a defensive back type and we moved him to linebacker two years ago.”

Huddleston has fooled opposing teams’ offenses in thinking that they got a mismatch with an inside linebacker covering a wideout.

“Without a doubt he’s one of our top cover guys,” Mitchell said.

Rain, rain go away

Rain is once again in the forecast, and those conditions give Shannon the advantage, says Plummer.

“If it’s not raining and they somehow can dry (the Indians’ field) out a little bit, I would have to favor Itawamba,” Plummer said Thursday morning, citing Itawamba’s passing game.

“I think if they played that thing on a Saturday, they’re ain’t telling what money at the gate they would get. I would love to be in the stands for that game tomorrow.”