After three weeks, the Mehlville Panthers football team is still looking for its first victory.
Mehlville opened the season on Aug. 30 with a 34-6 loss to Fox, as the Panthers’ offense couldn’t get going, allowing Fox’s high-powered offense to have its way with the football.
“We allowed them to control the clock with their rushing game and didn’t take advantage on offense when we had opportunities,” Mehlville head coach Kent Heinemann said. “We had a weird week of practice with the heat and lightning. I told them we should have good weather all week and we need to take advantage of it and have a better week of practice.”
Jordan Hannam-Lewis scored the Panthers’ lone touchdown, taking a kick-off back 92 yards for the touchdown.
Cameron Trautmann, starting his first varsity game as quarterback, finished 15-for-28 and was good for 142 yards. He did throw two interceptions, but Heinemann said Trautmann played pretty well for his first varsity action.
“I thought Cam played pretty well considering this was his first varsity start and he was named the starter,” Heinemann said.
The better week of practice seemed to help, but the Panthers couldn’t get enough points, falling to Northwest Cedar Hill 12-7 in the second game of the season on Sept. 6.
The Panthers offense was able to move the ball, as quarterback Colin Clark finished 6-for-14 for 123 yards in the air. Meanwhile, the rushing attack was also effective, as Mehlville ran the ball 29 times for 176 yards, good for more than six yards per carry.
Receiver Lawrence Jones had a nice night with three catches for 88 yards.
“Lawrence is a very long, athletic, skilled receiver,” Heinemann said. “We are going to continue to get him the ball.”
Mehlville’s game against Northwest was special, as it was a fundraiser for Ferguson police officer TJ Brown. Brown, a 2006 Mehlville graduate, was injured in the line of duty in August. The father of two played football and ran track for the Panthers. The school was selling “Team TJ” shirts at the game and taking donations, which went directly to his family.
The Panthers looked to get their first win of the season with a rare Thursday night contest at Hazelwood West on Sept 12, but were defeated by the Wildcats 38-25. Both teams went into the contest last week with 0-2 records.