With 234 yards rushing, the Kirkwood High School football team pounded visiting Mehlville 45-7 Friday night.
The loss for the winless Panthers was their worst since a 54-7 drubbing Sept. 3, 2005, at McCluer North.
“It comes down to us getting better on what we’re supposed to be doing,” Mehlville head coach Eric Meyer said. “Right now, we’re trying to keep the kids as motivated as possible. The kids we’ve got are working hard to get better and I think that we’re going to improve.”
Kirkwood wasted little time as Ahmad Hicks scored on a 35-yard interception with 10:17 left in the first quarter.
The Pioneers then attacked Mehlville on the ground when Malcolm Owens scored on an 8-yard run with 7:21 left in the quarter as well as a 3-yard touchdown run with 5:26 remaining in the quarter.
Kirkwood’s Brian Rosser nailed a 38-yard field goal with 3:03 left in the first quarter to give Kirkwood a commanding 24-0 lead after one quarter.
But Mehlville junior cornerback Steven Powell trimmed Kirkwood’s lead to 24-7 when he scored on a 41-yard interception midway through the second quarter.
“Steven sat on the play and made a good break on the ball,” Meyer said. “It was then a foot race to the end zone and I thought he made a really nice play.”
But Kirkwood struck again when quarterback Carl Williams hit Hicks for a 40-yard touchdown pass with 5:25 left in the first half. The Pioneers extended their lead to 31-7 when Sam Wright hit Dion Boykin on a 55-yard pass with 8:23 left in the third quarter. Kirkwood’s final blow to the Panthers came with 1:35 remaining in the quarter when Williams hit Mycole Pruitt on a 21-yard pass to give Kirkwood a 45-7 lead and the eventual win.
Two bright spots on Mehlville’s defense were junior outside linebacker Patrick Mudd and senior inside linebacker Demond Harris. Mudd recorded a total of nine tackles while Harris racked up eight tackles.
The Panthers return to action at 7 p.m. Friday when they play host to Lafayette.
The Lancers (3-2, 1-2 Suburban West) are coming off a 38-14 loss to Lindbergh.
