Homecoming thriller: Tribe makes late stand to win shootout with East Prairie

Staff photo by Mike Buhler Kennett's Cameron Wallace (left) is tackled by East Prairie's Riley Hadenfeldt (40) during the first half of Friday's high school football game at Metz Cherry Stadium. Wallace had four catches for 31 yards as the Tribe held off East Prairie 41-35 to go to 4-0, Kennett's best start since 1999. [Click to enlarge]

The two teams combined for over 900 yards of offense and the game was not finally decided until Davontee Childress stopped Eagles' running back Jordan Jarrett on the Kennett 11 to end the game and preserve a 41-35 victory on Friday night.

"Those are the best games if you win them, but upsetting if you lose them," Kennett quarterback Blake Parr said. "I'm just glad we played as a team and came away with a win."

Staff photo by Mike Buhler Kennett's Cameron Conder (left) pursues East Prairie's Jordan Jarrett (with ball) during Friday's high school football game at Metz Cherry Stadium. East Prairie's MC Williams (5) comes in to assist. Jarrett ran for 141 yards and a pair of touchdowns -- while Williams added 184 rushing yards and two more scores -- but the Tribe held off East Prairie 41-35 to go to 4-0, Kennett's best start since 1999. [Click to enlarge]

Parr had another huge night, throwing for 375 yards and two touchdowns while running for 83 yards and another score as he was responsible for all but 59 of the Indians' 517 yards of offense on the night.

"He had a very solid ballgame for us," Kennett coach Kirk Welch said. "I thought he made some good decisions and placed the ball very well. When we get down close to the end of the ballgame, we've just got to take care of the ball."

And taking care of the ball was an issue Friday. Kennett (4-0) lost a pair of fumbles -- one squelching a potential scoring drive, the other setting up a late TD drive for the Eagles -- and struggled on run defense all night, allowing 333 yards on 58 carries by East Prairie.

"We gave East Prairie a lot of opportunities tonight," said Welch. "They're a good ballclub and you can't do that."

However, the Tribe's D stepped up when it counted, stopping a pair of drives in its own territory in the game's final eight minutes to preserve the victory.

"We just kept our heads together because we knew if we let down any, they would come back on us," Parr said. "We just kept our heads together."

Trailing 21-20 at the half, Kennett seized the advantage in the third quarter, taking the opening kickoff and marching 72 yards in nine plays, going up 26-21 on Tevin Hampton's three-yard run with 9:18 left in the period.

After stopping the Eagles near midfield on the ensuing possession, the Tribe responded by driving 53 yards in 11 plays and finding the end zone on Parr's 17-yard run with 2:43 left in the third. Parr threw to Cameron Conder for the two-point conversion and a 34-21 lead.

However, the game was not over.

East Prairie drove 65 yards on its next possession, making it a 34-28 game when Jordan Jarrett ran it in from four yards out just 12 seconds into the final period.

"I felt like going into the game we could do a lot of things offensively," Welch said of the shootout. "We had a couple of miscues there but also came up with some big plays."

One of those big plays was on the next possession, when Jarvis Finley hauled in a 50-yard scoring pass from Parr with 10:27 to go to extend the lead to 41-28 and get some much-needed insurance.

Finley had another big game, catching 11 balls for 219 yards and two scores. For the year, he has 27 catches for 553 yards and seven TDs, tops in southeast Missouri.

"He definitely has been our big play guy," said Welch. "We've got some other guys we can go to as well, but Jarvis has played well in all of our ballgames."

The Eagles once again made it exciting on the next drive, when MC Williams broke loose for a 25-yard scoring scamper with 8:13 remaining to make it a 41-35 game, setting up the thrilling finish.

"I feel like our defense stepped it up at the end," Finley said. "We're 4-0 right now and we're looking forward to Portageville next week. I feel like Parr stepped it up big tonight and everybody contributed on the win."