The Lindbergh High School varsity football team won its first game of the 2013 playoff campaign Friday night, knocking off the Parkway South Patriots 24-13 in front of a home crowd.

Lindbergh fans had to wait until the game was about three quarters over before they could breathe a little easier as the Flyers trailed 7-0 at the halftime and didn’t tie the game until the end of the third quarter.

Lindbergh head coach Tom Beauchamp agreed it was definitely a battle to get the win.

“Well, I mean we played well enough to win and they played solid … We just had to muscle through it and we got through it and it’s a win,” he told the Call.

The two teams went scoreless until the 2:04 mark of the second quarter when the Patriots’ Keenan Borders caught a touchdown pass to put his team on top.

Lindbergh’s Carl Lovely answered back with a big 42-yard run into the end zone at the 3:41 mark of the third quarter and the crowd erupted.

The Flyers then put points on the board three times in the fourth quarter. It started with a 31-yard field goal by Blake Brockhaus, then Garrett Krueger with a 25-yard reception and Logan Offner returned an interception for 11 yards.

The Patriots added one more with less than a minute remaining in the, game but it was a moot point.

Beauchamp said that the defensive effort and the ability to control the football were keys in getting the victory.

“I think that basically we played a solid defensive game and I think that helps us a lot … Our offense held on to the ball quite a bit and I think that’s another thing,” he said. “You know, they consume time like that and we can play some good defense. I think that takes the ball out of their hands some defensively.”

To make it into week 12, the Flyers must get get past a team the beat them 38-0 earlier in the season and a team that stands atop the Suburban West Conference with a record of 9-1, the Eureka Wildcats.

Beauchamp recalled how the regular season meeting between the two teams went.

“I remember we didn’t play very well,” he said. “We didn’t get any breaks and we certainly didn’t earn any breaks.

“We played a real subpar game and came into it on homecoming weekend and I don’t think we were as focused as we needed to be … Hopefully, that will change this week.”

Beauchamp said the game plan for the Flyers is simple — play good football.

“I think we are going to have to play a balanced game,” he said. “I think we’re going to have to play good defense, but we also have to have our offense because if our defense is on the field all the time with an explosive offense, then you’ve got a problem.

“So I think our defense has got to play well. But I think at the same time, our offense has got to hang on to the ball and have some ball control.”