RIPLEY – When Itawamba AHS needed a workhorse Friday night, it knew where to turn.

Deshaun McGaughey.

With the score tied at 14-apiece entering the fourth quarter, the senior running back put the Indians on his back and carried his team to victory against a determined Ripley squad, 28-14.

McGaughey found the end zone twice in the final frame, scoring on runs of 33 and 25 yards to keep the Indians, ranked No. 3 in the Daily Journal Large School poll, undefeated at 4-0.

He totaled 142 of 236 rushing yards for IAHS, with 107 in the fourth quarter.

“He’s been the missing piece for us, and it’s a good thing to have a back like that to close it out for us in the fourth quarter,” Indians coach Jamie Mitchell said. “He laid it on the ground a couple of times, but we’re glad to have him.”

On a night where rain was the dominant factor, Ripley (1-3) struck first when Tony Black scored from the 7 with 10:34 left in the second.

However, IAHS closed the opening half with two scores, the first on a fumble recovery in the end zone, and the second on a 1-yard plunge by Maikhail Miller with 37 seconds left until the break for the 14-7 advantage.

Ripley, though, wouldn’t go away.

Midway through the third, the Tigers tied the game on an 18-yard scamper by Acie Vance.

However, that would be the final highlight of the evening for Ripley, which was held to just 163 yards of total offense.

“We’re never happy with a moral victory, but we’ll take one tonight,” Tigers coach Mac McCurry said. “We’ve been through a lot of adversity over the last eight days, going from 14 starters down to 10. We asked the kids to come out focused and play hard, and that’s what they did. We’re proud of the effort, but we’re not happy with losing. Now we get to play some schools more our size and games like that should help us.”

Mitchell was the first to credit Ripley for its hard-fought effort.

“I’m not going to make any excuses (about the weather or field conditions),” he said. “Ripley played hard and battled every second of the game. The field conditions were the same on both sides. I’m just proud of the way our guys played tonight.”