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MANLIUS - The signs are there.
Bureau Valley is returning seven starters on both sides of the ball, including a pair of four-year starters.
Senior Connor Scott, the Storm’s leading tackler three years running, is bigger and stronger. Senior Jon Dybeck returns as a stalwart on the line for both sides of the ball. Junior quarterback Bryce Helms has a full year under his belt after being thrown into a new position last year at the varsity level. And the Storm had a productive summer camp.
Could this be the year the Storm have their first winning season in seven years? Head coach Mat Pistole believes so.
“We feel really good about certain players,” Pistole said. “Connor Scott and Jon Dybek are going to be four-year starters for us. (We’re) bringing back Bryce Helms and Brady Hartz that played a good role for us last year. Brock Shane, Cameron Lemons, Elijah Endress, Aidan Morris bunch of guys that played a lot of football last year and gained a lot of valuable experience. I think that bodes well for us.
“I think we can compete at a higher level than we did last year. We have to stay healthy like every team and we have to execute at a higher level. We’ve got to find a competitive spirit that maybe’s been missing. That’s something we’ve been working on. I think this group is capable. I certainly believe in them. Now we’ve got to prove it on Friday nights.”
“I think we can compete at a higher level than we did last year. We have to stay healthy like every team and we have to execute at a higher level. We’ve got to find a competitive spirit that maybe’s been missing. That’s something we’ve been working on. I think this group is capable. I certainly believe in them. Now we’ve got to prove it on Friday nights.”
— Mat Pistole, BV coach
The Storm, which went 1-8 a year ago, had a strong showing at the Princeton 7-on-7 Tournament, finishing second on admittedly a favorable schedule. Nonetheless, it was a confidence booster.
“Any time we gain confidence from things like that is huge for our program,” Pistole said. “That’s the kind of confidence we need and things we just need to carry that over into the season and continue to work on the fundamentals and on Aug. 25 be ready for E-P.”
Dybek and Scott want to go out as seniors and believe they can.
“I feel like we’re all ready to win. This group of seniors have put in a lot of work from last year and we’re ready to win,” Dybek said. “Coming in, me and Connor as freshmen, didn’t feel like we had that much control over the game. Now as seniors, feels like there’s a lot of leadership and control that we have in the game.”
“We’ve seen an increase in our numbers a little bit. The size of our kids has grown. Got a great attitude coming into the season. Looking forward to it,” Scott said.
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Scott (guard) and Dybek (tackle) will anchor the Storm line alongside classmates Aidan Morris (tackle), Blake Erickson (center) and junior Bracin Patnoe (guard).
Pistole said Helms gained a lot of valuable experience playing quarterback for the first time at the varsity level and has worked hard to improve his game.
The rest of the backfield has promise with senior Cameron Lemons, junior Elijah Endress and sophomore Brady Hartz, who shined with 150 yards rushing in his varsity debut in last year’s season finale. The receiving crew will consist of seniors Corban Chhim, Eli Attig, Blake Foster and Shane.
There’s been some good position battles defensively in the Storm camp, Pistole said. Dybek and Morris will man the tackle spots with juniors Ayden Andrade and Braden Patnoe vying for nose guard. Scott (82 tackles), Endress and Lemons will play linebacker. Shane is locked in at one cornerback spot with Chhim and senior Eli Attig vying for the other. Helms will be joined at safety by a cast of Hartz, senior Payton Walowski, junior Drake Hardy and Attig.
Pistole said the Storm will have their hands full in the TRAC East.
“In our conference, you’ve got to bring it every week,” he said. “We have a tremendous conference. To be honest, we play schools that are 150 to 200 bigger than us enrollment-wise. The numbers are against us more weeks than they’re not. That’s not something we use as an excuse. We use that as motivation.
“When Bureau Valley comes to town, we want to be known as a team that plays really hard, is going to compete at a high level and do things the right way. This year’s version of the Bureau Valley Storm is going to be able to do that more times than not.”