Oakville and Mehlville Football Teams Begin District Play Friday

The Mehlville football team enters district play Friday coming off a three-game winning streak.

Oakville, on the other hand, has to rebound from a 50-0 loss to Lafayette.

But the Tigers may well have the better chance, at least on paper, of advancing in the postseason.

That is because of the luck of the draw; all teams in Missouri enter district play on a level playing field, with a 0-0 record whether they have won all seven of their games or lost all seven.

Each district includes four teams with the top two teams advancing to sectional play.

Oakville is in Class 6, District 1 which includes two teams that do not have a single win this season.

Fox is 0-6 and has scored just 49 total points. Northwest's offense has been even more inept. The Lions have scored just 20 points in seven games, all losses. Northwest has been shut out four times and has not scored more than seven points in any game.

Eureka enters the district as the favorite with five wins and 2 losses. They lost their opener by seven points against Lafayette and then rolled off five wins in a row before losing last week to SLUH.

But if Oakville takes care of business and beats the two winless opponents, it will continue to the post-season.

Mehlville (4-3) will need an upset or two to advance.

All four teams in Class 6, District 2 have winning records. De Smet is 6-1 with its only loss coming against undefeated CBC. Lindbergh is 5-2 with losses against Lafayette (6-1) and Eureka (5-2). SLUH is 4-3 but has won three in a row including the impressive 38-14 win over Eureka last week. Two of the losses by the Junior Bills have come against CBC and Webster Groves, which are both unbeaten.

Mehlville hosts SLUH in its district opener Friday. The Panthers then play at Lindbergh and host De Smet.

Oakville travels to Fox Friday before hosting Northwest and Eureka to end the regular season.