Panthers, Tigers Kick Off 2011 Football Season Friday

The Tigers’ football team will host Suburban West Conference rival Lindbergh on Friday at 7 p.m. in the regular season opener for both teams.

Oakville (2-8 last year) will look to avenge last season’s 39-7 loss to the Flyers (9-3 last year). Lindbergh has defeated Oakville each of the past four seasons.

from their 2010 squad, including senior QB Javon Henderson and all five offensive linemen. Defensively, Oakville will rely on Henderson and brother Jaron Henderson, a senior, to lock down a talented Lindbergh aerial attack.

Lindbergh, which made it to the Missouri Class 6 state quarterfinals last season, returns senior QB Peter Simpson, who threw 19 touchdowns and 19 picks in 2010. Simpson will have a new cast of skilled players to get accustomed to, as the Lindbergh offense lost their top five wide receivers and top running back to graduation.

Defensively, Lindbergh will try to contain the passing and running ability of Javon Henderson with senior linebacker Chris Kew, who led the Suburban West with 83 solo tackles last year.

The Panthers will take on Northwest in Lion territory Friday at 7 p.m. Last year, the Panthers crushed the Lions 42-12 in their season opener. However, Mehlville struggled and lost 17-6 to Northwest in the 2009 season.

Northwest was at the bottom of the Suburban West Conference last year with a 1-9 record overall and a 1-7 record in the conference. Mehlville (3-5, 3-7 overall) came out sixth in the nine-team conference. 

Jeff White's first game as a starter. Mehlville lost QB Zach Hayes to graduation; Hayes threw 105 of the Panthers' 109 passes last season. 

The team will also have track standouts Chayse Brown and Mike Sulya as its top running back and wide receiver.