The rains stopped prior to the Morrison-Bureau Valley season finale and the Mustang seniors were fexcited to end the season on a three game winning streak.
It couldn’t have started off in a worse scenario as Cody Southern fumbled the opening kickoff and and the Storm caught the ball in the air on 7 yard line and walked into the end zone with only nine second off the game clock. Will Konneck ran the 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 and 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 as Bureau Valley used the running of Will Konneck (54 yards in 4 carries) and quarterback Drake Davis (29 yards in 2 carries) and Gailen Gibson ( 1 carry for 8 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 when Justin Rodriguez threw Davis for a 7 yard loss followed by Joey Brackemyer sacking Davis for nine and the Mustang retained the ball after a Storm punt.The eleven play drive ended in the endzone when Tate 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 and Davis scrambling 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 and the defense needed to stop the Storm for 1:54 and regroup at halftime. The Storm went to the air twice and lined on the ten yard line with .2 showing on the clock. Davis rolled to his left and threw back to his right and connected with Jay Edlefson in the right corner of the end zone and owned a 28-8 halftime lead.
Remembering that they trailed 28-8 the previous week and came back to win, the optimism was high as the Mustangs returned for the second half. BV started the half with the ball but Tate 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 and 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. Morrison was penalized on the end of a 37 yard pass completion by Davis and then 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 threw Konnect for a 7 yard loss and knocked down two passes by Davis forcing a Storm punt. The frustrations of the evening surfaced as Eric Sipes was called for two consecutive ‘unsportsmanlike conduct ‘ penalties on the same play and was ejected for the evening ending his Mustang experience. The penalties set 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 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 and he wasn’t to be denied and didn’t stop until crossing the goalline 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 and burst into the open and didn’t stop until he crossed the end line 50 yards later and the 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 and he went untouched for an 85 yard Mustang touchdown. The extra point attempt failed and the Mustangs ended the season nine minutes later with a disappointing 42-22 defeat.
The seniors left EM Bud Cole field for the last time with a season record of 3 wins and 6 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 and improve each and every week. They 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.