The Mehlville Senior High School varsity football team started the 2013 season exactly the same way as the 2014 season is unfolding.

The 1-3 Panthers, like last year’s squad, waited until week four of the season to make their first tally in the win column as they knocked off 0-4 Seckman 33-9 Friday night.

Mehville head coach Kent Heinemann told the Call that last year’s team and this year’s team are completely different, but he does see a parallel.

“They are two very different teams, but I do see a resiliency in our kids … We did bring it up that, ‘Hey. we were down like this last year and we went on a run to win three more in a row,'” Heinemann said. “Again, they’re different teams.

“We had some bad luck this year with injuries and stuff, but the common thing is that I see the resilience in our Mehlville kids that we see year after year. They are still coming to work every day and they are still plugging away, and it looks like things are kind of turning for the better.”

In Friday’s victory over the Jaguars, both teams went scoreless in the first quarter. Mehlville got things going in the second quarter, plotting 20 points on the board and sending the two teams to halftime with the Panthers up 20-0.

Mehville added another 13 points in the third quarter before allowing Seckman to get on the board with nine points in the fourth quarter.

Heinemann said he saw his team get better as the game progressed.

“It definitely wasn’t a perfect game from us,” he said. “We still made a lot of mistakes, but … we moved the ball early on and got a little bit of confidence, and I think that it kind of built throughout the game.

“We had some guys step up in some new roles. We had Jabari Shelton — he’s a sophomore. He ran the ball quite a bit for us. He ran for 95 yards and he’s seen very little if any playing time on Friday night so far, but he had a pretty good game.”

Heinemann said his players seemed to have a bit of an edge before they took the field Friday night.

“I told the guys after warmups, ‘There is something a little different about you guys tonight,’ and guys just seemed to just have a little bit of confidence … It seemed like things were kind of clicking a little better,” he said.

“But from the get-go it seemed like they kind of started doing some things, and you could just see the confidence building. Again, it wasn’t a perfect game, but it was nice to see our kids with a little fire in them.”

Winning a game may have been exactly what the doctor ordered to get the Panthers back on the right path.

“We definitely needed it. It’s hard to come back week after week when you lose a game and kids still remain positive, but we definitely needed it for morale,” Heinemann said.

The Panthers will host Marquette Friday night at homecoming, and fans will be looking for their team to pick up another win.

“I think we’ve got some momentum. Next week is homecoming, which is always a big game for the kids and the school in general,” Heinemann said. “But coming in with a win under our belt, I feel like we are going to have some momentum. I feel like that will carry over into practice thoroughout the week and into the game.”