Shannon High School Red Raiders

SHANNON, Miss. (WCBI) — Remember when Shannon was a football powerhouse?

You should. It wasn’t too long ago.

From 2005-2010, the Red Raiders were averaging 10 wins a season. It was an impressive run for the proud program.

In recent years though, Shannon has fallen on hard times. But fourth year head coach Darryl Carter see his team believing, and that belief is turning into confidence towards a promising 2015.

“They are grinders,” Carter said of his team. “They  listen and they’ve bought in. That’s the main thing and that’s what I love about them. We ask them to do something and they do it. No questions asked.”

Shannon has been on the edge of breaking out in recent years. While their record may not indicate that notion, Coach Carter notices a change in the air and he believes this could be a special year.

“We had a great spring and our numbers are up, “Carters aid. “The main thing is we have an offensive line that’s together and the players and I really feel like we can make a run in this 4A division.”

While super star senior Cam Montgomery has graduated, Shannon returns nine starters on defense and plenty of talent on offense including depth in the trenches.

There are no plans on missing out of the playoffs this season, but the expectations go beyond just the postseason.

“We take from the playoffs where we were last year,” Carter said. “But how do you take from it? The way we played, we finally all got on board and the main thing we say is fear is the killer of faith. We’re striving for greatness and it hasn’t happened in previous years but now they have their hats hung on that and that’s what we are going for.”

Shannon will start the 2015 season at home versus Caledonia and then Nettleton before visiting Tupelo for their annual Lee County rivalry with the Golden Wave on September 4th.