Bureau Valley Storm Football: 2026 Schedule and Results
Latest result — Week 3, Friday September 4: lost 41-16 to Abingdon-Avon. Now 1-2. Next: at Hamilton/Warsaw, Friday September 11, 7:00.
2026: 1-2 · Coach: Pat Elder, second season · Division: Lincoln Land North · Enrollment: 295
A school in a village of 298 people that serves ten towns across four counties, won an undefeated state championship in 2005, and was the first high school in Illinois to build its own wind turbine.
2026 so far
- Aug 21 — beat United 36-27 at home. The game was suspended by lightning at 8:24 p.m., restarted at 10:56 after IHSA approval, and finished at 11:55.
- Aug 28 — lost to St. Bede 28-14 at home
- Sept 4 — lost to Abingdon-Avon 41-16 at home in Manlius. On3 lists this as 41-35 and dates it September 5; five sources including both teams say 41-16 on the 4th.
2026 schedule
| Date | Opponent | Site | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 21 | United | Home | W 36-27 |
| Aug 28 | St. Bede | Home | L 28-14 |
| Sept 4 | Abingdon-Avon | Home | — |
| Sept 11 | at Hamilton/Warsaw | Away | — |
| Sept 18 | at Princeville † | Away | — |
| Sept 25 | ROWVA/Williamsfield † | Home | — |
| Oct 2 | Stark County † | Home | — |
| Oct 9 | at Annawan-Wethersfield † | Away | — |
| Oct 16 | Knoxville † | Home | — |
† Lincoln Land North. All 7:00 p.m.
The coach they took from a rival
Pat Elder is in his second season, and Bureau Valley hired him off another team on this site.
Elder spent three seasons at Ridgewood, reached the eight-man playoffs in all three, and took the Spartans to the 2023 I8FA state final. Before that he coached Richmond-Burton for eleven years, reaching the Class 4A state final in 2011, and Sherrard for seven.
Superintendent Jason Stabler called the hire a “grand slam.”
Year one was 1-8. Bureau Valley is the only team in the division returning its starting quarterback.
Realignment changed their season
The Storm are new to Lincoln Land North in 2026, and it is a different world. Last season they faced three schools with smaller enrollments than theirs. This season they face eight.
At 295, Bureau Valley is the largest school in the division — more than three times the size of Annawan.
2005: undefeated state champions
Bureau Valley won the IHSA Class 3A state championship in 2005 under Dave Moore, going 9-0 in the regular season and then beating Riverdale 58-6, Paxton, Rushville, Oneida and DuQuoin.
The year before they had lost the 3A final to Addison Driscoll 37-14. IHSA credits the programme with ten playoff qualifications, one first place and one second.
Ten villages, four counties, one school
The high school is in Manlius, population 298 — the smallest host town of any school in the division. The district itself covers Bradford, Buda, Harmon, Manlius, New Bedford, Normandy, Sheffield, Thomas, Walnut and Wyanet, spanning Bureau, Stark, Lee and Whiteside counties and three area codes.
The wind turbine
In January 2005, Bureau Valley became the first high school in Illinois to build and operate a full-sized wind turbine — 660 kilowatts.
The school mottos are “E + R = O” and “Unity. Excellence. Pride.”
Volleyball, 2026
2-1 to start: won at Newman Central Catholic, lost to Erie-Prophetstown, beat Mercer County. Shaw Local previewed a veteran roster expecting to compete at a higher level than last season.
Where the season goes from here
Bureau Valley’s division schedule opens at Princeville on September 18 and closes at home to Knoxville on October 16. In between: ROWVA/Williamsfield, Stark County and a trip to Annawan-Wethersfield.
Two non-conference games come first — Abingdon-Avon at home on September 4, then at Hamilton/Warsaw on the 11th.
The 2005 team
Worth setting out properly, because it is the only outright state championship held by any school in Lincoln Land North.
Bureau Valley went 9-0 in the regular season and then beat Riverdale 58-6, Paxton, Rushville and Oneida before defeating DuQuoin for the Class 3A title. Dave Moore coached it.
The year before, the same programme had reached the 3A final and lost 37-14 to Addison Driscoll. Two straight state finals from a school in a village of 298.
Volleyball and the rest
The Storm field baseball, boys basketball, soccer, wrestling and cheer; girls basketball, soccer, softball, volleyball and cheer, plus boys golf, which opened its 2026 season with a win over La Salle-Peru on August 14.
Volleyball is 2-1, with wins at Newman Central Catholic and over Mercer County either side of a loss to Erie-Prophetstown. Shaw Local previewed a veteran roster expecting to compete at a higher level than last season’s.
A district spread across four counties
Manlius has 298 residents. The district it hosts covers ten villages — Bradford, Buda, Harmon, Manlius, New Bedford, Normandy, Sheffield, Thomas, Walnut and Wyanet — across Bureau, Stark, Lee and Whiteside counties, and three telephone area codes.
That geography is why an enrollment of 295 makes Bureau Valley the largest school in its division despite the size of the town it sits in.
Pat Elder’s record
The coach Bureau Valley hired has been a head coach for 23 years across three programmes.
At Richmond-Burton, from 2006 to 2016, he reached the Class 4A state final in 2011. At Sherrard, from 1999 to 2005, he went 44-26. At Ridgewood, he made the eight-man playoffs in all three of his seasons and reached the 2023 I8FA state final.
He arrived at Manlius in 2025 and went 1-8. Year two is the one to judge.
What the turbine says about the place
It is easy to file the wind turbine as trivia. It is better read as a statement about a district that has to be resourceful.
In January 2005, Bureau Valley became the first high school in Illinois to build and operate a full-sized wind turbine — 660 kilowatts, generating power for a building serving ten villages across four counties.
The same year, the football team went undefeated and won a state championship. It was a considerable twelve months in Manlius.
Send us results
We cannot be at every stadium. If you have a score, a stat line or a photo from this program, send it in — we post them as they come and correct errors the same day.
Records via IHSA and MaxPreps; district detail via Bureau Valley CUSD and Shaw Local. Lincoln Land North standings →
