The rains stopped prior to the Morrison-Bureau Valley football finale on Friday, October 23, 2015. The Mustang Seniors were excited about the opportunty to end the season on a three-game winning streak.
It couldn’t have started in a worse scenario. Cody Southern fumbled the opening kickoff and the Storm caught the ball in the air on the 7-yard line and walked into the end zone with only nine second off the game clock. Will Konneck ran three yards for the two-point conversion, and with 11:51 left in the first quarter the Storm led 8-0. After gaining one first down after receiving the ensuing kickoff, the Mustangs had to punt. The Storm started their first possession on the 9-yard line. The first defensive stance has been a challenge for the Mustangs in previous games and tonight was no exception. Bureau Valley used the running of Will Konneck (54 yards in four carries) and quarterback Drake Davis (29 yards in two carries) and Gailen Gibson ( one carry for eight yards) to up the score to 14-0, with 6:35 left in the quarter. Morrison’s second possession ended with a Davis interception of a Dylan Keller pass, thrown under great pressure from the Storm defense. Bureau Valley only kept the ball five plays before Morrison’s Eric Sipes recovered a Konnect fumble on the 42-yard line. The back-and-forth quarter ended with the Mustangs sitting on the Storm 29-yard line.
The second quarter started with quarterback Dylan Keller being thrown for a 3-yard loss and Tate Renkes fumbling the second snap, which was recovered by the Storm’s Chase Gripp on the 33-yard line. The Mustang defense dug in and stopped the Storm as Justin Rodriguez threw Davis for a 7-yard loss, followed by Joey Brackemyer sacking Davis for nine. The Mustangs retained the ball after a Storm punt. The 11-play drive ended in the end zone. Renkes broke tackles to score from the 27-yard line, and the Mustangs only trailed 14-8 after Keller earned the two-point conversion. Bureau Valley retaliated on the next drive with Caje Peterson breaking off a 24-yarder. Davis scrambled 30 yards to up the score to 22-8, with only 3:31 left in the half. Morrison received good field possession by downing the onside kick at midfield but was forced to punt after three failed snaps. The defense needed to stop the Storm for 1:54 and regroup at halftime. The Storm went to the air twice and lined up on the 10-yard line with 0:02 showing on the clock. Davis rolled to his left and threw back to his right, connecting with Jay Edlefson in the right corner of the end zone and Bureau Valley owned a 28-8 halftime lead.
Remembering that they trailed 26-8 the previous week and came back to win, optimism was high as the Mustangs returned for the second half. BV started the half with the ball. Renkes recovered a fumble on the seventh play and stopped the Storm on the 38-yard line. Keller immediately connected with Justin Jensen for a 14-yard completion. Andy Bird ran up the middle for ten. Keller and Renkes connected for 27 yards, and the Mustangs were first-and-ten on the 14 yard line. Bird carried three times for nine yards, but Renkes was thrown for a loss on a fourth-and-one call, and the drive was stopped on the BV 5-yard line. BV wasted no time regaining momentum from the Mustangs including Morrison being penalized on the end of a 37-yard pass completion by Davis. They followed the play with another penalty on the next snap and the Storm had a first-and-ten on the 23-yard line. Konnect covered the 23 yards on the next play, and the score moved to 36-8 with 3:47 left in the third quarter. The second play following the Storm score saw Keller pressured and throwing an interception to give the ball back to BV on the 47-yard line. The Mustang defense stiffened and they threw Konnect for a 7-yard loss and knocked down two passes by Davis, forcing a Storm punt. The frustrations of the evening surfaced. Sipes was called for two consecutive “unsportsmanlike conduct” penalties on the same play and was ejected for the evening ending his Mustang experience. Penalties sent the Mustangs back to the 9-yard line with 1:53 remaining in the third quarter. Four plays later the quarter ended with the Mustangs sitting on the 30-yard line.
The fourth quarter started with a Storm penalty and a Bird 9-yard run, before Keller and Ryan VanZuiden connected for a 24-yard pass completion. Two plays later Keller found VanZuiden again. He wasn’t to be denied and didn’t stop until crossing the goal line 36 yards later, to close the score to 16-36 after Bird scored the two-point conversion. Morrison’s onside kick failed to travel the necessary ten yards, and the Storm started from midfield. Will Konnect took the first snap, burst into the open, and didn’t stop until he crossed the end line 50 yards later. The Storm sealed the evening by upping the score to 42-16. Morrison’s double handoff on the kickoff didn’t fool the Storm and Renkes was downed on the 15-yard line. On the second play, Keller threw over the middle and his pass was tipped by the Storm defender, but it fell into the hands of the streaking Payton Cook. He went untouched for an 85-yard Mustang touchdown. The extra point attempt failed. The Mustangs ended the season nine minutes later with a disappointing 42-22 defeat.
The Seniors left E. M. “Bud” Cole Field for the last time with a season record of three wins and six losses. The fall saw a small group of athletes compete against teams with more players and play competitively against some of the better teams in the State of Illinois. They improved each and every week. The Mustangs carried on the proud tradition of Morrison football and set the stage for some stronger years to come, by leaving it all on the field each week.