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MANLIUS – Elijah Endress had a senior night for the ages on Friday.
In the last ever football game of his career, the senior running back for Bureau Valley ran wild for a whopping 378 yards and four touchdowns as the Storm beat West Hancock 47-34 in a Lincoln Trail-Prairieland Conference Large Division game.
“I knew I was having a good game, but when (BV coach Mat Pistole) said, ‘378,’ I was surprised,” said Endress, who said he does not plan to play football in college. “My line did a tremendous job, and I couldn’t have done this without them and all of my teammates.”
Endress had 198 yards rushing and two touchdowns in the first half, while he added 180 yards and two touchdowns in the second half.
“It’s incredible and is something that I’ve known he’s been capable of for a long time,” Pistole said. “He’s had a rough week with some personal stuff, so for him to come out on senior night and do the things he did is great. He’s such a great kid who does everything the right way. I’m so proud he had this moment.”
The Storm needed all of Endress’s heroics Friday as they overcame a two-touchdown first quarter deficit, rallied to tie the game at 26 at halftime, pulled ahead in the third quarter and held on down the stretch for the win.
“The adversity that we had in the first half – falling behind 14-0 – but being able to fight through is a tribute to our seniors,” Pistole said. “In the past, if we have something like that happen, we probably would’ve folded, but this group of kids rallied together. That shows how far we’ve come as a program, and what these seniors have done to the foundation.”
West Hancock (1-8, 1-6) took control early as it scored a touchdown on the game’s opening possession and then returned a fumble 95 yards in a scoop and score to take a 14-0 lead with 6:35 left in the first quarter.
BV (4-5, 3-4) cut the deficit to 14-6 when senior quarterback Bryce Helms ran for a score, but West Hancock’s passing proved troublesome for BV as the Titans used the pass for big gains and even for some scores.
The passing attack helped West Hancock take leads of 20-6 and 26-12.
“We came in knowing they passed a lot, and the weakness of our defense is passing,” Endress said. “But we knew if we could stop that, we could take control of the game.”
Luckily for the Storm, they did just that on defense, while BV rode Endress on offense.
Down 26-12, Endress’s 9-yard TD run pulled the Storm to 26-20 with 3:16 left in the second quarter, and his 1-yard TD run with 22.7 seconds left in the half tied the game at 26.
“The touchdown going into the half really brought us some momentum that we rode into the second half,” Endress said.
With the ball coming out of halftime, BV continued to go with Endress.
The Storm took the lead after Endress scored on a 7-yard run to make it 33-26 with 8:01 left in third quarter, and BV increased the advantage when Brady Hartz scored on a 1-yard TD with 39.9 seconds left in the third quarter.
West Hancock still had some fight as a 7-yard TD and PAT cut the Storm lead to 39-34 with 4:01 left in the game, but Endress capped the night when he scored on a 6-yard TD and caught the two-point conversion pass with 1:10 left.
After BV fell behind 14-0 in the first quarter, it outscored the Titans 47-20 over the final 3 ½ quarters.
“We learned a great deal this year,” said Pistole, who completed his sixth season. “It was fun because of the kids I got to coach. We’re looking forward to the future in this conference. We’ve got to learn how to get off the bus better on some of these long road trips, but, overall, we’re excited.”
In addition to Endress, Helms ran for a TD, threw for a TD and finished 4-for-9 for 95 yards passing and rushed for 78 yards, while Hartz ran for and caught a TD.