Lindbergh’s Beauchamp Hits Century Mark With Win Over Marquette

SUNSET HILLS–Lindbergh head football coach Tom Beauchamp earned the 100th victory of his 17-year coaching career on Friday night when the , 20-0, in a matchup of surging Suburban West Conference teams at Lindbergh’s Flyers Field.

Beauchamp took over as head man of the Lindbergh program in the mid-90s, after serving for many years as the defensive coordinator at Mehlville.

In his Lindbergh career, Beauchamp has led the Flyers to six conference championships, more than a dozen playoff appearances, and even a trip to the Show-Me Bowl state championship game in 2002.

But few victories in his career left the coach as prideful as win No. 100 did on “Pink Out Night” at Lindbergh, in which the entire Flyers team, coaching staff, and supporting community wore pink shirts, socks, and ribbons to raise funds for breast cancer research and to honor local breast cancer survivors.

“It was a great win on a great night,” Beauchamp said. “Hard-fought definitely. They’ve got a good team, really good defense. But I’m proud of how our kids handled it. It’s number 100 for me. It’s pretty cool.”

The final score didn’t in any way indicate how close Friday’s ballgame really was.

Both teams’ defensive units completely stymied both offensive units for most of the game, with Lindbergh taking advantage of a couple of huge breaks that led to scores.

In the first quarter, Lindbergh held Marquette on fourth-and-2, and stopped a Mustangs drive that had reached the Flyers’ redzone.

Lindbergh then drove 76 yards on 14 plays, and converted its own fourth-down play, thanks to a Marquette offsides penalty that led to a 3-yard touchdown run by senior Jordan Goodman that gave the Flyers the lead.

That was the only sustained scoring drive of the entire game.

“I thought our defense played great,” Marquette head coach Ryan Thornhill said. “We’ve just got to find a way to move the ball and score some points with our offense.

"We’re the type of team that has to grind its way down the field. But tonight we just had too many penalties, fumbles, mistakes, that kept us from taking this winnable game.”

Another unfortunate break for Marquette came early in the second half, when the Mustangs stopped Lindbergh for an apparent three-and-out, and then managed to have a rusher get a fingertip on the Flyers’ punt attempt.

The ball only flew a few yards away, and would’ve given Marquette fabulous field position deep in Lindbergh territory.

But Marquette’s Joaquin Buckly, another Mustangs rusher, who was clearly surprised to see the ball coming at him, tried to grab it as he fell down on the sloppy field and couldn’t maintain possession.

A throng of Lindbergh cover guys were able to fall on the ball, and the Flyers regained possession at their own 45-yard line.

Five plays later, Goodman caught a screen pass and seemed headed for a 25-yard touchdown.

But he was hit near the goal-line and fumbled the ball, giving Marquette another opportunity to prevent the score.

But Lindbergh’s Garrett Krueger picked it up and waltzed into the end zone for a score that gave the Flyers a 14-0 lead.

“I was just doing my job blocking, and I couldn’t believe the ball just bounced right to me,” Krueger said. “It was crazy. I’m just glad it came right to me.”

From that point on, the Lindbergh defense really settled in and held Marquette to three straight three-and-outs, before a couple of long passes late allowed the Mustangs a scoring chance from inside the 5-yard line.

Again though, the Flyers defense held on fourth down, and coupled with Krueger’s 15-yard touchdown catch on the first play of the fourth quarter, Lindbergh had more than enough to close out another important win.

“We’re going great right now,” Krueger said. “Ever since that Lafayette loss, we finally got our heads on right. We’re practicing better and playing as a team. And now, we’re just doing what we have to and hoping that Lafayette loses.”

Lindbergh is 4-1 this season, and 4-1 in Suburban West Conference play, with the only loss coming to league frontrunner Lafayette in a 24-21 thriller at Flyers Field on Sept. 2.

Marquette fell to 2-3 on the season, and 1-3 in league games, with a tussle against another traditional Suburban West Conference bully, Mehlville, scheduled for next Friday night at 7 p.m.

Lindbergh will host its 2011 Homecoming Game next Friday at 7 p.m. against Eureka, which is also 4-1 after defeating Parkway South last Friday.

SCORING SUMMARY

Score by Quarters

F

Marquette

0

0

0

0

0

Lindbergh

7

0

7

6

20

First Quarter

Lind: Jordan Goodman 3 yd run (Jordan Harmon kick), 4:55

Third Quarter

Lind: Garrett Krueger 3 yd fumble recovery (Jordan Harmon kick), 8:25

Fourth Quarter

Lind: Garrett Krueger 15 yd pass from Peter Simpson (PAT blocked), 11:54