Bureau Valley bounces back with rout of Knoxville, moves to 3-2

MANLIUS - Bureau Valley bounced back in a big way Friday.

After the Storm had a tough game last week at Farmington, they flexed their muscle back at home as BV scored on its first five possessions, played stout defense and rolled to a 46-13 victory over Knoxville in a Lincoln Trail-Prairieland Conference Large Division showdown.

“We all knew that we are better than how we played last week,” BV senior running back Elijah Endress said of last week’s 54-6 loss at Farmington. “We were all embarrassed with what happened. We knew if we wanted to turn things around, we had to win this game and make a statement.”

Statement made.

The Storm (3-2, 2-1 LTP Large) never trailed Friday, went 2 ½ quarters without punting and outscored the Blue Bullets 32-0 over the game’s final 27 minutes, 21 seconds.

“That’s a program that I have a tremendous amount of respect for,” BV coach Mat Pistole said. “Their kids do things the right way and play hard. They are a perennial power in this conference, so to come out and play like we did, I couldn’t be prouder of our kids.”

BV showed its offensive diversity Friday as it ran and passed at will. The Storm ran for 239 yards and four touchdowns, while senior QB Bryce Helms completed his first nine passes, threw for 126 yards and three touchdowns.

“All of us really came together, helped each other and motivated each other,” Helms said. “I just got the ball to my guys and let them make plays.”

Those plays started early and were often for BV.

After the defense forced Knoxville three-and-out on the game’s opening possession, the Storm went to work as Helms capped a six-play, 55-yard drive with a 20-yard TD pass to junior running back Brady Hartz to give BV a 7-0 lead with 7:38 left in the first quarter.

Knoxville (1-4, 1-3 LTP Large) countered with a 2-yard TD run to tie the game, but Endress responded with a 10-yard TD run to put the Storm back up 14-7 with 8:57 left in the second quarter.

The Blue Bullets scored right away on a 61-yard TD run to make it 14-13, but after that it was all BV.

Helms threw a 9-yard jump ball TD to sophomore Blake Foster to make it 20-13, while Helms threw another TD pass to Hartz – this time an 8-yard connection – to make it 26-13 at half.

In the third quarter, the Storm scored on the opening possession when Helms broke two tackles and found paydirt on a 2-yard fourth down run.

Endress added a 2-yard TD run in the third quarter and a 16-yard TD run in the fourth quarter to push the BV advantage to 46-13.

“When we haven’t been successful this season, I have been very critical of myself and my play calling, so we changed up how we approached things tonight,” Pistole said. “We tried to be a little more balanced – and not so much run and pass, but balanced as in how many touches each kid gets with the ball. We really tried to spread it out, and the kids really executed.”

While the Storm offense excelled, the defense was just as effective.

After BV allowed two TDs on Knoxville’s first three drives, the Storm shut out the Blue Bullets the rest of the game.

“I think we just had to dial things in a little bit,” Pistole said. “We noticed pretty early what was wrong, so we made an adjustment and it was lights out from there. I am really proud of our defense and defensive staff and how they responded.”

Helms finished 9 for 13 for 126 yards passing and three TDs, while he ran for 61 yards and a score. Endress rushed for 126 yards and three TDs, while Hartz caught five passes for 74 yards and two TDs and ran seven times for 39 yards.

The Storm return home next week against Elmwood-Brimfield (4-1, 3-1 LTP Large).