STEPHEN GLOVER

For the Call

The Mehlville Senior High School football team’s two-game winning streak came to an end Friday night with a 21-7 loss at Kirkwood.

“They (Kirkwood) are a good football team,” Mehlville head coach Gary Heyde told the Call. “Our defense played well, but the offensive line struggled.”

Mehlville quarterback Kevin Mahler was hampered by a bruised thigh, which limited his mobility and held him to negative 15 yards on five carries. Mahler completed four passes for 42 yards before leaving the game in the third quarter.

Before Mahler left the game, though, he connected with tight end Mike Headrick on an 11-yard touchdown pass with 6:22 left in the third quarter to trim Kirkwood’s lead to 14-7.

“Kevin was really limited on what he was able to do,” Heyde said. “The running game was poor, so it was hard getting things started. But for the time he played, he did a pretty good job.”

Headrick hauled in three passes for 31 yards and the Panthers’ lone touchdown of the game. The senior tight end’s three receptions were his first three receptions of the season.

“We haven’t been throwing the ball to him too much, but he’s a pretty good receiving tight end,” the Mehlville coach said. “He made a really nice catch on that touchdown play.”

The Panthers are on the road this Friday evening when they travel to Marquette (1-3, 0-2 Suburban West) for a key conference game against the Mustangs.

Marquette is coming off a 41-3 loss at Oakville.

“Marquette’s a power running team,” Heyde said. “They took Lindbergh to overtime and lost to Oakville, so it’s kind of hard to measure how good they are.

“But for the most part, they’ve been playing people tough.”

Mehlville’s road game at Marquette is slated for a 7 p.m. start.