The Friday Night Drive Team of the Week MVP came to Bureau County for the first time in its three-year history last week when St. Bede’s Tyreke Fortney won. It’s staying here a second straight week.

This week’s winner is Bureau Valley senior Jaden Michlig, who has helped the Storm off to a 2-0 start for the first time since 2017.

The Storm outside linebacker set the tone on defense early in Friday’s 50-7 win at Sherrard. Michlig intercepted a pass on Sherrard’s second play of the game and recovered a fumble on the Tigers’ second possession. The right halfback also rushed for 100 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

He was named as this week’s MVP, receiving 326 online votes. More than 7,860 votes were cast at FridayNightDrive.com in the second poll of the season. He follows Fortney, of St. Bede, which follows inside Bureau County lines.

Michlig was presented his MVP belt, sponsored by Schweickert, Ganassin, Krzak, Rundio, LLP, by BCR Sports Editor Kevin Hieronymus at Tuesday’s practice in front of his teammates and coaches.

What does it mean to win the FND MVP belt?

“This belt is kind of a representation to how hard our whole team has worked this year. I’m glad to have it.”

What are your thoughts on your performance against Sherrard?

“I was just trying to keep my head square and didn’t get too high and didn’t get too low. Just want to keep playing the game out. It was really fun to play with all my friends that game.”

What did the team do well in Week 2?

“We’ve put in a lot of work over the summer and every day in practice. I think we really do more than what any other team does. That means a lot”

How important was it for the team to win the first two weeks this season after losing its last 13?

“I think that these two wins were kind of the determining factor for our entire season. If we would have come out and lost these first two games, I think it would have been really tough for us [morale-wise] to get back into it. But I think now that we’ve got that on our shoulders, it’s going to be great.”

What’s the best thing about Storm football?

“Oh, the heart. The heart in this. It’s fun to see everybody, after we had that losing streak, to see everybody’s heart beating so much better and in the game more.”

What hopes/goals do you have for the team the rest of the season?

“I hope we can continue to improve our name and bring our name back for the classes under us. Need to get a lot more kids out. We’re really short. Hopefully, these first two wins will inspire more kids to go out in the following years.”

Has that been hard having such low numbers?

“Oh yeah, it’s been pretty tough. We’ve all made it work. We have. Everybody’s done a great job of really hunkering down and doing what they’re supposed to do.”

What would that mean to qualify for the postseason?

“I think that would be breathtaking for everybody in the community and would really reunite us all again.”