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Sports

Mehlville, Lindbergh Set For District Football Elimination Game Friday

The Panthers take on the Flyers at Lindbergh Friday at 7 p.m.

After suffering losses in their district playoff openers last week, perennial South County football powers Mehlville (4-4) and Lindbergh (5-3) both find themselves facing elimination from playoff contention when they meet Friday night at Lindbergh’s Flyers Field.

The current means only two teams from each district can make the playoffs, and with one loss each already, the team that takes a second defeat will have no shot at all at advancing to the postseason this year.

Mehlville played quite possibly its worst game of the year last week in a .

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Traditionally a stout defensive club, the Panthers allowed the Jr. Billikens nearly 250 rushing yards and more than 350 total yards in what proved to be a bitter defeat.

Mehlville was also held to less than 80 yards of total offense and could only muster four first downs against the Jr. Bills.

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This week, the Panthers hope junior running back Dwaine Lewis can find more running room against a Lindbergh defense that was gashed for nearly 300 rushing yards itself in last week’s 30-13 home loss to De Smet.

Senior quarterback Jeff White has also had a fine season with 598 passing yards and seven touchdowns for Mehlville’s primarily run-heavy offense.

Lindbergh, on the other hand, runs a variation of the spread offense and likes to let senior quarterback Peter Simpson fling the ball all over the field.

This season, Simpson is the Suburban West Conference passing leader with 1,418 yards and 17 touchdowns.

Fellow senior Blake Beauchamp and sophomore Garrett Krueger are the Flyers’ top receivers this season.

Beauchamp leads the team with 22 catches for 355 yards and six touchdowns, while Krueger, who has caught 19 balls for 305 yards, leads the Flyers with a 16.1 yards/catch average.

Old brother Grant Krueger is Lindbergh’s top rusher and kick returner with more than 700 total yards and six touchdowns scored of his own.

Mehlville senior Dan Kerckhoff leads the Panther defense with 49 tackles this season.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Friday night, and fans can tune in to Patch late that night and early Saturday morning, for full coverage of the district playoff elimination game between South County football rivals Mehlville and Lindbergh.

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