EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a series by BCR Sports Editor Kevin Hieronymus looking back at the 25 year history of Bureau Valley High School Storm sports.
MANLIUS — The early going for the Bureau Valley football program was somewhat rough waters.
The Storm had losing records in their first four seasons and with no conference to call home, they traveled to play whatever teams they could find. One week they were as far south outside of St. Louis and the next week to as far north as Dakota.
“Those first years, we didn’t have a schedule and had to pick up anyone we could find to play. Our schedule was awfully tough right off the bat,” said Ken Bourquin, the Storm’s first head coach.
“We were going all over the countryside. I think seven of the teams made the playoffs and yet we were 4-5,” said Dave Moore, who was assistant coach before taking over as head coach in 2005. “I think if we had been in the Three Rivers (earlier), we would have been in playoffs sooner.”
But boy how did the Storm put it all together.
They opened the new century with a 64-10 record from 2001-06, including an incredible three-year run of 39-2 at the tail end with a 26-game win streak.
They netted one state championship, took second at state the year before, and had a semifinals appearance another.
BV has also won seven conference championships, all in the Big Rivers, which they joined in 1999, the precursor to the Three Rivers.
In the beginning
In addition to playing a taxing schedule, Bourquin faced the task of putting together the newly consolidated program of kids from Manlius, Western/Wyanet and LaMoille.
Having played 1A football at their old schools, the BV players took some lumps early, including lopsided losses to Princeton in its first two years. The two Bureau County schools have not played since.
“We weren’t real good. Each one of those schools was kind of on the down phase when we did go together. Made it a little rough starting up. Everybody knew that it would start coming back up, and it did,” said Bourquin, who posted two 4-5 seasons before retiring from his Hall of Fame career spent mostly at old Manlius High School and co-op partner, Tampico.
Bureau Valley won its very first game on Aug. 25, 1995 at Dakota, 14-12. In all excitement of the program’s first game, BV failed to pack the varsity game pants for the trip north. They arrived just before kickoff.
The Storm posted their first winning record in their fifth year (1999), going 6-3 under John McKenzie. The former Walnut head coach was dismissed after the season, however, and newcomer Jason Kirby took over.
After a 3-6 rookie campaign, Kirby turned the Storm program around. They reached the playoffs for the first time in 2001, going 8-4 and reaching the state quarterfinals in 2A.
BV followed up with a 9-2 record in 2002 and 8-2 in 2003 with two more playoff berths, this time in 3A.
In 2004, the Storm blazed a trailed to the state finals, winning its first 13 games before falling to powerful Addison Driscoll 37-14.
Kirby left BV after the 2004 season, with a 41-15 record over five years, and has coached at numerous schools since, now at Biggsville West Central.
The Perfect Storm
Moore, a longtime assistant to Bourquin, his father-in-law, first at Manlius, finally got his chance to take over the program, and he delivered right away in his very first year.
While many believed the Storm had lost too much firepower from a strong senior class the year before, Moore simply reloaded. It helped that his biggest weapon lived right in his own home.
Moore inserted junior Garrett Barnas, his stepson, as quarterback and he burst onto the scene. The Storm QB passed for 1,502 yards and 9 TDs and rushed for 1,033 yards and 19 TDs.
Again the Storm ran the table, returning to the state finals with a 13-0 record. This was no fluke as they beat perennial Big Rivers power Sterling Newman 26-14 for the conference championship and made the long trip to Southern Illinois to blast perennial powerhouse DuQuoin 33-14 in the state semifinals.
This time, BV finished on top of Class 3A, blasting the Tolono Unity Rockets 34-7. They were the perfect Storm.
Moore said it was a surprise that they won the state championship, but not that they would make the playoffs.
“I knew what kind of quarterback Garrett was. We had some good running backs back and Michael Grieve (receiver) decided to go out for football and was kind of a wild card,” Moore said.
“I think our kids had a bad taste a little bit (from 2004). It wasn’t a matter of making the playoffs, but rather how they came together as a team.”
The next year, the Storm also won its first 12 games, running its win streak to 25. They fell to Nick Nasti and the Plano Reapers 49-7, one step short of a third straight trip to state.
Barnas had a superb encore performance, featured as the BCR Player of the Year as the “Super Quarterback.”
After a 3-6 season in 2007, Moore left BV to take over at a rival Princeton as head coach for four years there. He returned to BV as an assistant, but is back at PHS.
Assistant Jeff Olson took over as BV’s head coach, leading the Storm to three straight playoff appearances, including a 10-2 record and quarterfinals trip in his first season, 2008.
Playoff drought
The Storm have only reached the playoffs once since, in 2016, under coach Spencer Davis.
Newcomer Joe Schmitt coached two years (207-18). BV alumni Mat Pistole, who lives and breathes Storm football, took over in 2019, and looks to bounce back from an 0-9 campaign whenever the Storm get to take the field next.
In 25 years, the Storm stand 142-109 (.566) on the gridiron, including an 84-55 mark in conference play and 17-9 in the playoffs.