Season on the line for Tribe Friday at NMCC

Staff photo by Mike Buhler Blake Parr (left) and the Kennett Indians will try to rescue their playoff chances when they take on the New Madrid County Central Eagles Friday night in New Madrid. [Click to enlarge]

The Kennett football Indians must have a good idea how the Missouri Tigers feel right now.

Like the Tigers, the Tribe got off to a fast start, only to see back-to-back losses put its season in jeopardy.

Kennett will try to turn around its season Friday night when it travels to New Madrid County Central to take on the powerful Eagles.

Staff photo by Mike Buhler Patrick Barnes (left) is one of many Kennett Indians battling injuries and illness entering Friday's road contest against the New Madrid County Central Eagles. [Click to enlarge]

"We're not out this thing yet," Kennett coach Kirk Welch said. "We told the kids that and they know that."

However, the Tribe will face a daunting task trying to stop NMCC. The Eagles are led by running backs G'Darius Stevenson (845 yards, 12 touchdowns) and Bryan Waters (816 yards, six TDs) while flanker Rodney Anderson and quarterback Dontre Jenkins have combined for 815 yards and 12 scores.

Stopping the NMCC ground game could be a tall order for an Indians' defense that has given up 275 or more rushing yards to its opponents in four of the last six games.

"They've got some tremendous athletes," said Welch. "They do a lot of things and do it well. … (We want to) try to keep them corralled."

Kennett will have to be especially on the lookout for Jenkins, who has passed for over 800 yards and has a passer rating of 111.5 to go with his running ability.

"He's done an excellent job," NMCC coach Arlen Pixley said. "I think he's one of the better conference quarterbacks that we have. … He's done a great job for us."

The Tribe will counter with the area's leading passer in Blake Parr, who has passed for over 2,000 yards and 19 TDs this season.

"(From) what we've seen in the film studies we've done, he's done a good job of buying a lot of time and making plays happen for them on offense," said Pixley. "They have some more than capable guys of making plays."

However, the Tribe may be without some of those playmakers on Friday night. Linebacker Emmett Dunn is out for Friday's game, while standout receiver Jarvis Finley and lineman Patrick Barnes are questionable for the game and leading rusher Tevin Hampton has battled illness all week.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

Notes: Kennett will need some help to make the playoffs. Regardless of Friday's outcome at NMCC, the Tribe will need Dexter to win at Perryville to have any chance of making the postseason. … The Eagles have outscored Kennett 97-14 the last two years and have scored at least 37 points against the Indians three years in a row. … The Tribe has allowed over 300 yards rushing to three opponents this season -- East Prairie, Sikeston and Perryville.

Opponents: The Tribe's opponents were 5-5 last week and are 30-49 this season. Here's how they did against their opponents:

Charleston (1-7) lost to East Prairie, 46-22
Caruthersville (2-6) def. Malden, 32-18
Hayti (6-1) def. Hayti, 48-19
East Prairie (4-3) def. Charleston, 46-22
Portageville (0-8) lost to Hayti, 48-19
Malden (1-7) lost to Caruthersville, 32-18
Sikeston (4-4) lost to West Plains, 52-28
Perryville (2-6) def. Kennett, 31-12
NMCC (6-2) def. Dexter, 34-14
Dexter (3-5) lost to NMCC, 34-14

Weather: The National Weather Service is calling for mostly cloudy skies with a 30 percent chance of rain and a kickoff temperature in the lower-50s, dropping the upper-40s by the end of the game. Winds are expected to be from the south at 3 miles per hour, switching to the south-southwest by the end of the game.