Bureau Valley’s main man: Weidner serves as workhorse for talented Storm squad

Michael Weidner knew early on he had some big shoes to fill. He had no idea how much fun it would be to fill them.

Weidner took over two of the key spots for the Bureau Valley Storm in his final season, becoming the main rusher as the team’s fullback and the main tackler as the middle linebacker.

“It’s been even more rewarding than I expected,” Weidner said with a smile. “Coach Ohlson told me early on that I was going to have to step up and be a leader this year, and it’s been fun to go out and do it. I have a lot of great teammates and it’s been a pretty easy role to fill.”

One can’t talk to Weidner about his play without him deferring much of the praise to the rest of the team. He is constantly talking up his line and his fellow skill position players, all of whom have made his transition to the team’s central role as smooth as one could hope.

“He’s not the only weapon we can give the ball to,” BV coach Jeff Ohlson said. “It definitely makes it easier for Michael to have a lot of players around him who can make plays. Michael opens things up for everybody else, and they all open things up for him. It all really goes hand-in-hand.”

What makes Weidner even more appreciated amongst his teammates is his sheer dependability. His fellow defenders can always count on him to fill the open gap, and the Storm’s quarterback considers Weidner his security blanket.

“Michael has definitely help make me who I am as a quarterback,” John King said. “He can run inside or outside, he can catch the ball out of the backfield and even pick up blocks on blitzes. He keeps the defense honest, and that allows the rest of us to make plays around him.

“Michael’s the horse, for sure, but he’s only worried about the team winning. If he can take defenders away and leave the rest of us free, he’s fine with that, too.”

Things haven’t gone as smoothly this season as Weidner and his mates would have liked, but they’re not dwelling on the past at this point. That early-season No. 1 ranking was nice, but the senior-laden Storm realize that numbers like that don’t matter until the day after Thanksgiving.