Under a soft mist Friday, misfortune and missed opportunities punished Mehlville in a 35-7 loss to Lafayette High School (1-2).
The Panthers’ offense failed to execute on drives starting at the 50-yard line and twice near the Lancers’ 30-yard line after the defense forced turnovers.
“We just didn’t take advantage. Our defense put us in a good situation by getting some turnovers, and we did nothing with it,” Mehlville head coach Eric Meyer said.
“We let them down. We didn’t come through,” he added.
Mehlville’s defense broke down at the most painful of times, as well.
Senior Steven Powell watched a Lafayette pass bounce from his hands into Lafayette’s Chris Hall’s hands for a 39-yard completion in the first quarter.
Senior Dan Parrott’s 29-yard sack in the second quarter was erased two plays later by a 42-yard run on third-down-and-long and an eventual touchdown.
Lafayette covered 69 yards on three pass completions in 28 seconds before halftime to take a 21-7 lead.
And three Panthers failed to bring down Lafayette junior William Dupont on a 17-yard touchdown reception.
“We made a couple mistakes and allowed them to get the ball back,” Meyer said. “It shouldn’t have happened. We’re not doing the things we need to.”
The Lancers owned a 14-0 lead after two rushing touchdowns by senior Thomas Swoboda, but Mehlville fired back on a fourth-and-five play with a 15-yard touchdown pass from senior Zach Hayes to sophomore Chase Brown with three minutes to play until halftime.
From there, Lafayette ran away. Swoboda gained all but two of his 85 yards on the ground in the first half and hauled in a crucial 32-yard catch before halftime. Swoboda averaged more than seven yards per carry, and the Lancers rushed for 190 yards.
“I don’t know that we were breaking down on the tackles. I think we were over-running some things. I don’t think they beat us up front. I just think we didn’t get it done,” Meyer said.
Mehlville amassed 166 yards of offense, and only 62 in the second half. The Panthers fumbled six times, but only lost three.
“There’s some things I believe we can do, and we didn’t do it tonight. We’ll have to get back to that,” Meyer said.
After a 42-12 season-opening win, the Panthers have scored a total of 21 points and given up 76 in the last two games. The Panthers have lost their last three contests against the Lancers.
Hayes left the game late in the third quarter with an abdominal injury, and his status for Friday’s Oakville contest was unknown at press time. Senior lineman Foster Heres also went down with an injury before the third quarter ended, but he is expected to play against Oakville.
