Before getting into Friday night's game between East Prairie and Kennett, a couple of asides:

1. Gas prices: I am intrigued and amused by fluctuating gas prices, particularly on long road trips like Friday's drive from Cape Girardeau to Kennett. Mostly, along Interstate 55, gas prices were in the 3.50s for regular unleaded. Just off the interstate at Hayti, the two stations had prices of 3.37 and 3.39. Amazingly, heading about 20 miles west, the three stations I passed in Kennett were 3.79, 3.80 and 3.83.

I will never understand a 46-cent price difference 20 miles away, but safe to say the Semoball vehicle gassed up in Hayti.

2. The recruiting of M.C. Williams: East Prairie coach Jason Aycock said the next college that contacts senior running back/defensive back M.C. Williams will be the first, and that's particularly befuddling when it comes to the large state school just up the road. Aycock thinks Williams is the best running back in Southeast Missouri, and he most certainly would be in the conversation. In fairness, Williams is about 5-foot-10, and the bulk of his 1,528 yards last season came in the last four weeks of the season, after East Prairie had gotten off to an 0-6 start.

But Williams is plenty quick and has the moves that make people miss. On Friday night at Kennett, it was as if he had a three-yard gain just walking out of the huddle. (He finished with 184 yards on 31 carries and turned a short pass into a 21-yard gain at a key point late in the contest.)

3. The weather: The storm passed through Kennett well before kickoff, which probably was beneficial for the Indians passing game.

The weather wasn't so pleasant in other places. I listened to the end of the Sullivan-North County game driving back to the office, and the homecoming game for the Raiders ended in a loss at 11:45 p.m.

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On to Kennett's 41-35 victory over East Prairie (and we're working on the video now):

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It was every bit as offensive as I expected, and it had a great finish as East Prairie closed to Kennett's 15-yard line as time ran down before trying a swing pass to fullback Jordan Jarrett which was stopped well short of the end zone.

Kennett, a Class 3 school that improved to 4-0 but has yet to face a team above Class 2, never punted. The Indians fumbled twice, once in each half, and was stopped on a fourth down in East Prairie territory that set up the Eagles' final drive.

The Indians had to answer every East Prairie touchdown in the first half and went to the locker room trailing 21-20. But they scored on their first three possessions of the second half to claim a 41-28 lead in the fourth period.

Blake Parr, the leading passer in Southeast Missouri, threw for 375 yards and two touchdowns -- both to Jarvis Finley (219 yards on 11 catches for the region's leading receiver).

Finley's catch and run through East Prairie's defense for a 50-yard touchdown with 10:27 remaining in the game looked like a back breaker.

But East Prairie answered with a 25-yard touchdown run by M.C. Williams a little more than 2 minutes later.

After Parr fumbled on Kennett's next possession, East Prairie effectively marched into Kennett's territory. But a third-down run left the Eagles fractions from a first down, and a quarterback keeper by Conner Scott somehow resulted in a short loss and a turnover on downs.

Kennett again moved into East Prairie territory before turning the ball over on downs with little time left in the game.

The Eagles used a swing pass from Scott to Williams to move dangerously close to Kennett's goal line but, after spiking the ball to stop the clock, a pass to the end zone was nearly picked off and the final pass play was stopped short.

East Prairie scored on its opening drive and looked unstoppable in building a 14-7 lead after one period.

Kennett, which scored easily with its passing offense on the first drive, turned the ball over early in the second period when 6-3, 205-pound tight end Cameron Conder (4 catches, 60 yards) was ruled to have fumbled the ball after making a catch and taking it inside East Prarie's 10.

East Prairie, undone by a penalty, could not get a first down and had an 18-yard punt to put Kennett in business at EP's 29.

Tevin Hampton capped the drive with a 6-yard run for the first of his three touchdowns on the night, tying the score 14-14.

East Prairie took the lead again when a fourth-and-6 play at Kennett's 36 broke open with Jordan Jarrett scampering into the end zone. Jarrett, a hard runner who serves as a nice complement to Williams, finished with 141 yards on 24 carries.

Kennett scored the only points of the third period as Hampton ran in from 3 yards and Parr, who finished as Kennett's leading rusher with 83 yards, had an athletic run to the end zone. That put the Indians ahead 34-21 after three, but East Prairie would not go away.

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Kennett's offense is fun to watch, with Parr being able to pick from a number of receiving targets on every play in addition to his ability to elude the rush and make you pay with his scrambles.

The Indians have a very good chance to move to 6-0 before hosting Sikeston in a Week 7 game that also should feature plenty of offense.

East Prairie, for a team that went through a lot at the start of last season, showed quite a bit with its ability to rally from two-touchdown deficits to get within one score in the second half. The Eagles will play at Fredericktown in Week 5 in another difficult challenge against a larger school before taking on SEMO South foes Chaffee and Portageville and then beginning Class 2 play in a very winnable district.