With the midway point of the season coming up Friday, the Lindbergh High School varsity football team has just one victory, but that’s not too bad if you grade the Flyers on a curve.

The Flyers have endured a tough schedule early in the season with games against Kirkwood and Pattonville. On Friday, they fell to Parkway South 40-19.

Lindbergh head coach Tom Beauchamp told the Call the loss to Parkway South hurt a little, but he remains optimistic about what his players are capable of and he is pleased with their development this season.

“I think our kids battled. They really played hard,” he said. “We gave up some big plays at some really inappropriate times that cost us, but I think the kids overall battled the whole game. (They) never gave up and kept fighting till the end … We gave up a couple long touchdowns and a couple times we were down on the goal line and and didn’t score.

“Once we fumbled it in the end zone and they recovered it for a touchback … That would have been a difference-maker … Some things were tough to take at times, but the kids battled back. They played hard. They kept pushing down the field.”

As for turning a corner in the right direction, the win over Mehlville the previous week was a confidence-booster, but the Flyers still have their work cut out for them to be able to win football games week after week, according to Beachamp.

But the consistent effort the Lindbergh coach has seen from his squad throughout the season is indicative of the Flyers’ potential

“I don’t think it’s one thing. I think it’s a learning process,” he said. “I think each week we are getting a little better. We were well-matched in the first couple games and they had some real talent, but our guys battled and we haven’t given up yet.

“I mean the guys keep fighting and it’s one of the important parts about football — it’s about consistency and learning to continue to battle regardless of what’s going on with the scoreboard … I think our kids do that and they’ve gotten better each week … We just got to get some breaks, and it’s one of those things where sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce your way.”

The game against Parkway South was “a prime example” of that, Beauchamp said.

“I’m not taking anything away from Parkway South. They’ve got some talent — no doubt about that — but I feel we didn’t capitalize on some things we should have capitalized on,” he said.

The Flyers will battle the Lafayette Lancers this Friday, a team that could be seen by some as a mirror image of Lindbergh.

“We’ve got Lafayette and I think they are in the same exact boat we are,” Beauchamp said. “They’ve had some really tough opponents early, and I think it’s one of those situations where we both are struggling, so it ought to be a heck of a game.

“… We are both 1-3, but when you look at who you’ve played and you look at how many games they’ve lost combined, in both cases it leaves you thinking that anything is possible. So it ought to be a heck of a game.”