Bureau County summer football schedules heat up this week

The summer football offseason heats up after the Fourth of July for Bureau County teams

Three of the teams will be under new direction with Patrick Elder taking over as head coach at Bureau Valley, Nick Sterling as new head coach at Hall and Jack Brady the new head coach at St. Bede.

Both Sterling and Brady are alumni and former players at their schools.

Here’s a look around the Bureau County camps:

Princeton

The Tigers will open with mini-camp from 8:30-9:30 a.m. on Monday and Tuesday before heading to the 7-on-7 at Stark County, coach Ryan Pearson’s alma mater, at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

Weights and mini-camp will continue July 14-15. The Tigers will travel to Washington High School for their annual joint practice with Todd Stevens’ Panthers from 10 a.m. to noon on Thursday, July 17. Stevens was a member of Princeton’s 1989 state runners-up and instrumental in steering Pearson to Princeton.

The Tigers will end the week with their own 7-on-7/Lineman’s Challenge on Saturday, July 19.

The Tigers camp is scheduled for 5:30-8 p.m. July 21-24, moving to the morning on July 25. The camp will wrap up the Tigers’ summer season.

Hall

Sterling’s Red Devils will huddle up for summer practices from 6-8 a.m. Monday through Friday in July at the Hall High School practice field.

Sterling joined the Red Devils’ staff last year under Logan Larson, who resigned after one season as head coach to take over the same position at his hometown Pleasant Plains. Sterling was a member of Hall’s 1995 state champion, 1996 state runners-up and 1997 3A quarterfinalist teams.

Bureau Valley

The Storm will start their two-week summer camp on Monday, July 17 at Bourquin Field in Manlius under the direction of Elder, who comes to BV from the Ridgewood 8-man co-op.

Elder previously coached at Richmond-Burton, making 10 playoff appearances in 11 seasons from 2006-16 including one state finals and two semifinal appearances, and Sherrard from 1999-2005, where he went 44-26 with five playoff appearances in seven years.

St. Bede

The Bruins will hold a youth camp from 4:15-6 p.m. on July 7-9. Brady’s boys will pick up practices through the end of July from 4:15-6:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday.

St. Bede will also hold scrimmages at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, July 21 at La Salle-Peru and against Mendota and former St. Bede coach Jim Eustice at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 31.

Brady has had his hands on St. Bede football for more than a decade. He was the Bruins’ record-setting quarterback, graduating in 2015. The past nine years, he served on Eustice’s staff, taking over as offensive coordinator the past five.