A Season Full of Franchise Firsts

by Sam Just

The Southwest Kansas Storm have continued to rewrite the franchise record books in 2026:

-First 10-win Season

-First Time Earning a Playoff Bye Week

-First Time Clinching the First Seed

-First Home Playoff Game

-First Playoff Win

-First Time Hosting a Championship Game

-2026 NAL Franchise of the Year

Can it end with one more, first championship victory?

It is only fitting that the Storm find themselves set to play the Salina Liberty for the 2026 National Arena League Championship. The Storm and Liberty have remained playing partners through five seasons and four leagues. Now they meet for the first time in a Championship game. This will be the third time these two teams have met this season alone, and the ninth time they have met in the last 3 seasons.

Saying these two teams are familiar with each other would be an understatement, but this might be the best-case scenario for the NAL for several reasons. The main reason is competitive football. In the previous 8 games between these two teams, the point differential is a combined +0, with none of the games decided by more than one score, and the record is 4-4. If one thing is certain when these two teams play each other, you can expect a tightly contested game.

Coaching Clinic

The NAL truly serves as the home for many great coaches, but Coach O’Neal, Coach Thomas, and their staffs should be regarded among the best in any league. This means we can expect two well-coached teams playing disciplined football, where great plays and not penalties should serve to decide a winner.

Salina, Hoping to Travel Well

Another aspect of this rivalry is that there is just over a 2-hour drive separating Salina and Dodge City. There is sure to be at least a busload of Liberty fans as the team has arranged for a party bus to bring fans in for the game. One way Storm fans could combat the Liberty faithful grabbing too much of a foothold is to buy up all the tickets while they can. Starting at $25.50 a ticket, and $10 for kids, a family of four can see the NAL Championship game for around $75.

https://www.ticketmaster.com/southwest-kansas-storm-championship-game-dodge-city-kansas-06-21-2026/event/060064CD30DA918E

If the league is hoping to turn casual viewers into lifelong fans, there are worse ways to do it than putting an in-state rivalry game featuring two of the league’s most stable and most well-coached teams on display. This should be considered a win for the NAL by all accounts.

"Loud and Proud"

Storm Nation proved that even small-town teams can find big support this past weekend as they showed up and did their part to help the team find victory. Before the game, we heard that 25 horns were being distributed throughout the crowd, and these horns did not stop. After every offensive score, the crowd noise was overwhelming for the opposing team.

This helped lead to three interceptions, as well as a handful of penalties. In a game that was decided by 20 points, those turnovers and some aggressive play calling resulted in the Storm pulling away in the second half. Before 00:02 left in the half, the Storm held just a 21-17 lead.

Aggressive Play-Calling Puts Up Points

The Casino might be next door, but there was certainly some gambling going on in the arena. With just 2 seconds remaining in the half, Coach Thomas dialed up a Hail Mary pass knowing that with limited time left, the risk was minimal, and the reward could be the difference in a tight game. Sending everyone to the end zone, quarterback Trae Self threw up a prayer, and his prayers were answered as Demarius Washington leapt above defenders, catching the ball for a touchdown, sending the crowd into a frenzy.

Momentum can change everything in football, and this game was another example of that. Before the touchdown to close out the half, it had been a back-and-forth affair. The Storm had received to start the game, if they had gone into halftime with just a 4-point lead, with the Beef set to receive, the game could have ended differently. The calculated gamble by the 2026 NAL Coach of the Year resulted in 7 points and a two-score lead at half.

Defense Wins Championships

The defensive unit did its best to stifle the Beef offense, holding them to just 24 points on the day. Holding the Beef to three field goal attempts (two of which were missed) and forcing three turnovers was the difference in this game. Timothy Shannon, Shaq Bond, and Kyle Meyers all collected interceptions, with Shannon adding a forced fumble.

While the defense did not log a sack, they kept Vincent Espinoza, an elite athlete, contained all day. While he was able to extend plays and get throws off in some situations, he did not do the damage we saw against Sioux City. Last week, Espinoza led the Beef in rushing with 5 carries, 53 yards, and 2 touchdowns.

The front four did an amazing job of staying aware of rushing lanes and keeping contain on the edges. This paid off in other areas as the Beef rushed for a total of 33 yards and 1 touchdown on 11 carries. This led to less time of possession and more fatigue on the Beef defense as the game wore on.

New Week New Challenge

They will face a challenge this week with Tyrie Adams suiting up for Salina. Through four games, Adams has collected 29 carries for 147 yards and 5 touchdowns. If the front four can continue to limit running lanes and keep Adams in the pocket, the secondary could see a few passes come their way.

Adams has 57 passing attempts in 4 games; he has thrown 5 interceptions to 11 touchdowns. He has also been sacked 5 times for a loss of 32 yards. This may be the last game of the season, but Adams is 183 pounds and has a long injury history. While Salina will undoubtedly utilize his legs, they may be playing with fire if they lean too heavily into the quarterback run game.

Have a Game, Timothy Shannon

Timothy Shannon may have earned himself a new nickname after his performance in this game. Shannon has quietly been one of the better defensive backs in the NAL all season long. Playing in all 10 regular-season games, he collected 39 tackles, 1 fumble recovery, 1 interception, and 5 pass breakups. However, in the biggest game of his short professional career, he put up his best performance yet.

Logging 3 tackles, 1 forced fumble, and a pick-six that opened up the lead in the second half, Tim Shannon turned up when it was Show-Time. With the lights expected to be just a bit brighter this weekend, can he repeat his performance and be a game-changer in the Championship? He should be on the radar of several teams at the next level.

Dedication to the Run

After the game, Coach Thomas acknowledged that the Omaha BEEF has one of the best defensive lines in the National Arena League, and this showed up in the run game statistics. On a total of 26 attempts, the Storm offense collected 67 yards. This breaks down to an average of just over 2.5 yards per carry.

While the offense did not find the success in the run game they were hoping, their dedication to the run game still served its purpose to open up passing lanes. The defense knew that if they began to drop back in coverage and focus more on the passing game, Jaden Sutton and Mason Pierce are more than capable of gashing them all game long.

This kept the defense honest, leaving them choosing to continue focusing attention on the run game, daring the Storm to beat them through the air, knowing Trae Self was dealing with an ankle injury suffered in the final week of the regular season. With this in mind, the Beef actually made a small shift in their front four before the game. Activating Jayshawn Washington from injured reserve, and utilizing Rodell Rahmann at linebacker to add some more size up front.

Defensive Game Plan Likely to be Similar

The game plan will likely look very familiar this weekend as I anticipate Salina will incorporate a similar approach. Salina has built their defensive roster very similarly to the Beef and has multiple versatile players to incorporate. Much like Omaha, Salina utilizes a rotational front with as many as seven different players playing significant snaps at defensive line or Linebacker this season.

Against Pueblo last week, Salina played Darin Hungerford and Ricco Moore at Linebacker, with Henry Kellogg, Trevonte Carter, and Justin Foster rounding out the lineup. They also have Kerry Starks, who has been in and out of the lineup due to injury. Salina could opt to activate Starks, using him at linebacker at times to help stop the run, although Hungerford just won the 2026 NAL Defensive Player of the Year.

It remains to be seen if the Storm can find more success on the ground against Salina. Last week, Salina allowed 34 rushing yards on 15 carries, while the yards per carry look rough, Pueblo still managed 3 rushing touchdowns. The important factor is that the team remains dedicated to the run. We have seen it all season long; it only takes one slip on defense for this rushing attack to produce a big play.

Home Field Advantage

As mentioned before, this is year five for the Storm, and they hosted their first playoff game a week ago. This makes the fact that the championship game is in Dodge City all the sweeter. The Storm has experienced an unbelievable season leading up to this point. They have overcome adversity, along the way losing Matt Struck and Evan DiMaggio to injury, or cycling through 3 kickers.

Now it all comes to this one game. With that in mind, home-field advantage has never been more important than it is right now. Winning this championship isn’t only for the franchise; it's for the city of Dodge. With that in mind, we need all of the families to give the Fathers in their lives football tickets for Father's Day. Come out, bring the kids, friends, neighbors, etc, and let's set one more record this season: most tickets sold.

I was told the team has sold around 2,000 tickets with one day to go. Can they top the franchise record of 2,200? With your help, we can do it, and with your help, the Storm can potentially keep the NAL Trophy from taking a trip to Salina after the game.