With one week in the books, we learned a few things about south county football early in the 2003 season.

First of all, Lindbergh is for real. Despite playing in the Show-Me-Bowl in 2002, the Flyers are looking to prove it was not a fluke, and they have. Message sent.

Secondly, we learned a lot about what the future holds for the Mehlville Panthers. Mehlville could easily suffer a few losses in the regular season, but should win its district like it did in 2002.

Realizing coaches certainly don’t like to look ahead, that doesn’t mean that fans can’t.

For that matter, it’s a good idea for Mehlville fans to keep in mind the high level opponent it faces this weekend in Lindbergh and what good it did them to handle them in the regular season last year — none.

Lindbergh rebounded and defeated Mehlville to get to the state finals, so this first round match up between the teams means a lot in the conference standings, but not in the overall scheme of things.

Panther fans also need to consider this: if the Panthers are to come out of their district in 2003, their state quarter final opponent will come from the district that in-cludes DeSmet (lost 46-30 to Vashon this week), McCluer (lost to Howell Central 24-18), Hazelwood Central (thumped by Kirkwood 27-10) and Pattonville (lost 35-7 to a Columbia Hickman).

Central is the best of these teams, and the group may have a dozen or so wins between them after week ten. In other words, Mehlville has reason to believe they could see Lindbergh twice this year — again.

1) Lindbergh (1-0) — Any concerns about a post Show-Me-Bowl let down were put to rest with the fairly easy win over a very good Parkway West team.

Another win this week would go a long way in solidifying their status as an elite team. Next up: Play host to Mehlville at 7 p.m. Friday.

2) Mehlville (1-0) — A win is a win, and Mehlville was solid in its victory over Parkway Central.

The Panthers are young, but even this early in the season it’s easy to see them back in the state semifinals. Next up: 7 p.m. Friday at Lindbergh

3) Vianney (1-0) — Despite losing a lot of talent, it opened 2003 with a whipping of Soldan, 32-0. It was 25-0 after one quarter. Next up: 7 p.m. Friday at Fox

4) Oakville (0-1) — A loss to the 2003 Parkway North Vikings is not like a loss to the Vikings of old — this version is very good.

Still, the margin was more than it should have been for what is a much better Oakville team than in past seasons. Next up: 7 p.m. Friday at Eureka.

5) Affton (1-0) — If the Cougars are going to be playing in mid to late November, they will need to find a way to win a little bigger against inferior teams. Gut instinct says this week will be different than last. Next up: 7 p.m. Friday at Pacific.