Neither the Lindbergh High School Flyers nor the Mehlville Senior High School Panthers need to win Friday.

But when the schools face each other at 7 p.m. at Mehlville, neither will have a very good chance at reaching the state football playoffs with a second district loss.

Mehlville fell to St. Louis University High School and Lindbergh lost to DeSmet Jesuit High School last week in Class 6 District 2 action. Even with a 0-2 district record, both schools still would be alive entering their third and final district game.

The Flyers (6-2) beat the Panthers (3-5) last season in a district game and Mehlville won in a 2008 district game. Before that, Mehlville won Suburban West Conference contests in 2007 and 2006.

“Mehlville has talent. They will always play you well at home,” Lindbergh head coach Tom Beauchamp said. “I coached there for 11 years. They do stuff that makes you play hard. They’re not going to beat themselves.”

Lindbergh will have to win on the road, where it has a 2-2 record. Mehlville is 2-2 at home.

Both coaches want their team to direct the game’s flow offensively.

“We need to be very consistent with ball control. Defensively, we want to bend, but not break. We can’t give them big plays,” Beauchamp said.

Mehlville will gladly take a big play, but Panthers head coach Eric Meyer doesn’t believe they need it.

“We’re going to really have to prepare well and play well if we’re going to beat them. They’re well-coached and they still have a lot of good athletes,” Meyer said.