Bureau Valley made a grand debut in the Lincoln Trail/Prairieland Conference, defeating Monmouth United 48-21 Friday night at Monmouth.
The Storm led 14-7 at the half and 28-7 after three quarters to cruise to the season-opening win.
“I was happy with how we started and then how we responded to some adversity in the second quarter,” BV coach Mat Pistole said. “We have a few things to clean up, but overall I thought we played physical, played tough, and played smart, which is who we wanna be.
“Really proud of our 15 kids that got their first major varsity minutes. Now back to work to prepare for a really good Ridgeview team.”
Senior Elijah Endress led the Storm rushing attack with 186 yards on 22 attempts. He scored three straight touchdowns in the second half, including runs of 29 yards and one yard in the third quarter and an eight-yard score early in the fourth to put the Storm up 36-7.
Brady Hartz scored two touchdowns, rushing for 94 yards on 11 carries, and quarterback Bryce Helms completed 4 of 7 passes for 74 yards, including a 3-yard TD pass to Blake Foster.
Bureau Valley tallied 350 yards rushing on 45 attempts while holding United to 137 yards on 27 attempts. The Red Storm picked up 109 yards passing while BV totaled 74.
Ayden Andrade led the Storm defense with nine tackles and Endress added eight.
Tri-Valley 22, St. Bede 16: Grady Gillan scored both touchdowns for the Bruins in Friday’s nonconference, season opener in Downs.
The Vikings held just a 15-13 halftime lead before extending it to 22-13 with a touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter.
Ryan Soliman also kicked a late field goal for the Bruins, who return home to play Eureka this week.
Quarterback Gino Ferrari led the Bruins in rushing with 114 yards on 14 attempts while completing 6 of 15 passes for 91 yards.