The Bureau Valley football team experienced a roller coaster of emotions in just over 30 seconds Friday in Manlius.

With less than a minute to play against Illini West in a Lincoln Trail-Prairieland Conference Large Division matchup, the Storm scored the game-tying touchdown, were stopped on the go-ahead two-point conversion, and then allowed a 70-yard touchdown run — all within 30.7 seconds of game time — as Bureau Valley suffered a heartbreaking 28-20 Homecoming defeat.

“We haven’t had many of these close games this year,” BV coach Patrick Elder said. “We got a little excited, but it’s high school football. Games like this are why you play and what makes it fun. We’re disappointed we ended up on the wrong end.”

Although BV (1-6, 1-4) trailed for most of the game, the Storm stayed within striking distance and pulled even late.

On the game-tying drive, BV converted two fourth downs — the second a 10-yard run by junior running back Dane Stewart that gave the Storm first-and-goal at the 1-yard line. Two plays later, Stewart powered in for a 2-yard touchdown to tie the game at 20 with 59.5 seconds left.

“That was a character drive and a big score for our kids,” Elder said. “We converted on fourth downs, shot ourselves in the foot a few times, but still got in.”

After a timeout, BV went for the lead, but Stewart was stopped a yard short on the two-point try.

“We’ve lost in the conversion game the last two weeks, and it hurt us again tonight,” Elder said. “We’ve worked on it in practice and will continue to do so.”

Illini West (3-4, 2-4) got the ball back with 53.4 seconds remaining. On second down from their own 30, senior running back Isaiah Knotts broke free around the edge and outran the BV defense for a 70-yard touchdown with 28.8 seconds left. The Chargers converted their two-point attempt to take a 28-20 lead.

“(Knotts) got loose on the first drive of the game and he got loose on the last drive — and that was really the difference,” Elder said. “Explosive plays are a big deal, and unfortunately they had a few.”

The Storm couldn’t answer in the final seconds, but Elder praised his team’s growth.

“Even though we fell, we’re a completely different football team than we were a month ago,” the first-year coach said. “I’m so proud of our kids. We got behind, came back, got behind again, and came back again. Our improvement on both sides of the ball is leaps and bounds better than it was a few weeks ago, that’s all you can ask for.”

Illini West struck first when Knotts scored on a 45-yard run with 7:12 left in the first quarter to make it 8-0.

BV answered in the second quarter when Stewart scored on a 6-yard run, but the two-point attempt failed, leaving the Storm trailing 8-6 with eight minutes to go before halftime.

The Chargers extended their lead just before the break when sophomore quarterback Liam Murphy threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Caleb Schreacke on fourth-and-goal. The conversion failed, but Illini West led 14-6 at intermission.

After a scoreless third quarter, BV sophomore running back Keenyn Richter scored on a 6-yard run. On the conversion attempt, junior quarterback Aiden Litherland tossed a backward, overhead lob to senior Brandon Carrington. The trick play tied the game at 14 with 11:31 left.

Illini West quickly responded, as Knotts punched in a 1-yard touchdown less than three minutes later to make it 20-14 and set up the dramatic finish.

For BV, Stewart rushed for 62 yards and two touchdowns, while Richter added 66 yards and a TD. Litherland completed 5 of 8 passes for 44 yards. Junior tight end Blake Foster led the team with a 20-yard reception, and Stewart caught three passes for 18 yards.

Knotts led Illini West with 165 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

Bureau Valley will look to rebound next week at West Hancock (4-3, 3-3).