Red Mountain High plays host to the state’s No. 1 recruit on Friday.

That would be Hamilton quarterback Tyler Shough, rated No. 1 by Rivals.com. Shough, a 6-foot-5, 195-pound senior and second-year starter, has already committed to North Carolina.

He passed for 2,079 yards and 27 touchdowns last year. The recruiting process can be distracting for young athletes but according to Shough's coach he doesn’t seem to be falling into that category.

“I think Tyler is really focused on his team this year, committing early was good and he is focused on the rest of his high school career now,” Hamilton coach Dick Baniszewski said.

Despite the hype surrounding Shough, the Red Mountain defense sees this as more of an opportunity than a burden.

“He is a good quarterback, he will give us good competition,” Red Mountain safety and running back Justin Coleman said.

“It is good for a DB [defensive back] to play him so we can see how good we really are.”

When Red Mountain’s first-year head coach Mike Peterson was asked how he and his team are handling the talk that comes with facing Shough he kept it very simple.

“We do our due diligence and breakdown the game like everyone does and stop what they do best and if we can do that we have a chance,” Peterson said.

Red Mountain took Hamilton to the wire last year, losing 20-19 despite having a strong second half.

Coleman is bringing those emotions felt from the crushing defeat into this year and hopes the feeling he had after last year’s loss doesn’t happen again on Friday.

“It affects us a lot because last year we felt like we had this game after coming back in the second half and just falling short,” Coleman said.

Coleman added how Friday's game being the home opener adds even more importance to game versus Hamilton.

“It is our first game at home, no one wants to get beat at home so it has a chip on our shoulder,” Coleman said.

Red Mountain is coming off a bye week after losing its season opener to Chandler High School.

Some coaches would be worried about falling 0-2 on the season, but Coach Peterson is focused on the little things which he believes will put his team in the best position to win.

“We don’t talk about winning a lot around here, we talk about doing our best. Because we feel if we do our best then good things happen. So, that is what we preach to the young guys about doing our best, do our best on every play, run the call to our very best all 11 of us and we think good things will happen in the end,” Peterson said.

The game between Red Mountain and Hamilton will be played at Red Mountain High school at 7 p.m.