Storm Set Franchise Record in Wins With Two Games to Go

The Storm have now set a franchise record for wins in a season by defeating the Salina Liberty with 8, this topped the previous record of 7. They did so in front of a record crowd as well; however, the work is not done yet. Whether that is in the win column or the ticket sales department. While it was a record crowd last week, we believe that with an extra week to spread the word, we can beat the record once again! 

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Help us pack the house on May 23rd, and keep an eye out for playoff tickets to go on sale very soon! You, the fans, did your part last week to keep Salina uncomfortable on the road and made it near impossible for the offense to hear the calls in the huddle at the time. 

We have one more chance during the regular season to prove home-field advantage means something in Dodge City. Even at 8-0, the Storm still need some help, or one more win to guarantee they clinch home field advantage in the playoffs, and a first round bye week. Storm Nation can be the help their team needs on May 23rd. 

Some of the help they were looking for on this front came on Sunday when the Colorado Spartans, now 4-4, defeated the Pueblo Punishers, now 6-3. This means, at the absolute best, Pueblo can finish 7-3. Even with that, there is still a sliver of hope for the Sioux City Bandits who currently stand 5-2 with 3 games remaining, it likely would require them to have a higher point differential, however given the way the Storm have won this season, the point differential is not a tie breaker we want to rely on. 

Playoff Picture Could be All But Decided this Weekend with 4 teams on a Bye Week

Technically, there is a small chance Sioux City could win out and finish 8-2, and if the Storm lose out, we would also be 8-2. That all changes if we win at least one of the next two games, or Sioux City loses either of its last two games. With Sioux City, the final opponent on our schedule, the Storm couldn't ask to have more control over their playoff seeding if they tried. 

With a bye week ahead, the Storm could wind up clinching the first seed without playing a game this weekend. There are two games this weekend:

Omaha at Sioux City 

Salina at Amarillo 

If Omaha can defeat Sioux City on the road, they move closer to clinching a playoff spot, and they hand the Bandits their third loss, stealing any chance of finishing as the first seed. Looks like Storm Nation might be rooting for Omaha to win on Saturday. 

Locking up the first seed without playing this week could be even more of an advantage. To put it in gambling terms, the Storm would be playing with house money. Knowing that even if they lose both games, they finish as the first seed. 

Bye Week Gives a Chance for Much-Needed Rest Before the End of the Season

Outside of the loss of their leader and initial QB1 Matt Struck to an ACL injury, the team has been fairly lucky. Jalen Knox missed four games due to a foot injury, and in his absence, Bemnet Morgan was signed as the 5th defensive back. 

Naeem Alexander stepped up in a big way during Knox's absence, and due in part to those four games, Alexander is currently 17th in tackles for the league, just ahead of Timothy Shannon. Thanks in part to his performance, the defense kept rolling, and the team remained undefeated, allowing them to ease Knox back into the lineup on a pitch count, further ensuring he was 100% before his full return. 

A week ago, Dom Moore suffered what is believed to be a high ankle sprain, and given their situation, the team could hold him out until the playoffs if needed. Moore missed the game against Salina; now he has a bye week, two games, and another bye week before he will absolutely be needed to suit up again. 

While no other players have missed time due to injury as of yet, the team has been conscious of snap counts on veteran players, choosing to make Jaylen Pickle a healthy scratch two weeks ago due to how much he had been playing. The early suspension for Jamel Winn left the Storm activating 3 defensive ends and utilizing their fourth offensive lineman as depth at nose tackle. This meant it was less a rotation and more Pickle being called upon to be the workhorse at times. 

Chances to get Depth Players More Snaps 

The Storm have a unique chance over the next two weeks to get some depth players involved to keep them engaged and prepared if they are needed in the playoffs. Look for players like Matt Fries, Austin Bacher, Josiah Silver, Naeem Alexander, and Bemnet Morgan to see some more snaps come their way over the next two weeks. 

We may not see any starters completely held out of the game, but cutting down on unnecessary snaps late in games, or even just giving some players a series off periodically during the games, similar to the rotation used on the offensive line before Moore's injury, could be ways to mitigate the potential for injury to key players. 

Looking to Louisiana

As mentioned before, Louisiana is also on a bye week, so any sort of advantage the Storm had heading into their game the following week is negated. Looking back to the first time these two teams played, it likely ended much closer than most expected with a 24-18 finish. 

Since then, Louisiana changed quarterbacks, moving to Larry Moton Jr., a player who had previously taken snaps at other positions for Louisiana. Taz Wilson requested his release, ultimately signing with the Tucson Sugar Skulls in the Indoor Football League. Moton has played in 6 games, throwing 59 passes, but he has just 19 completions for 207 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions. 

He has done a large chunk of his damage on the ground, running the ball 23 times for 130 yards and six touchdowns. He also has 3 receptions for 69 yards and 1 touchdown. While nothing he has done in any one facet of the offense has been spectacular, as is often the case with multitalented quarterbacks, the sum of his contributions has been enough that this game can't be taken too lightly. 

Two-Way Talent  

D'Nerrius Antoine is a name some Storm fans may recognize from their time in the Champions Indoor Football League. He has played against the Storm at least twice before, dating all the way back to 2023, when he was with the Billings Outlaws amidst a Defensive Player of the Year Campaign. 

Antoine is a menace to opposing teams, no matter where he is lining up on a given play. As mentioned before, he won CIF Defensive Player of the Year as a linebacker in 2023. 

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However, he has also played running back over the years, and that is arguably where his biggest impact has come for Louisiana this season. 

He has 48 carries for 156 yards and 8 touchdowns, 8 receptions for 105 yards, and 8 kick returns for 82 yards. He even attempted a pass. While many players play in all three phases of the game, few players are more impactful for their teams than Antoine. He currently leads his team in rushing touchdowns, sacks, forced fumbles, and pass deflections. Proving just how versatile he is. 

In their first match-up with Louisiana, the Storm defense held Antoine to 11 touches for 34 yards and 1 touchdown, and he finished the game as the leading rusher for Louisiana with 9 carries for 15 yards. They are aware that with Tasleem Wilson gone, stopping Louisiana starts and ends with the run game. We have discussed the rushing threats of Moton, and Antoine, but we have yet to address a player with  potential to be the most dangerous offensive playmaker on the team. 

Dajon Richard

If teams were unaware of Dajon Richard prior to the 2026 season, they are now. Wearing #0 for Louisiana he currently sits 5th in the league in rushing, and consider that is with the carries Antoine and Moton have taken as well. Richard serves as the speed to Antoine's power and it has been effective to say the least. 

The 5'11 207 pound Southern Mississippi product only joined Louisiana after playing his first five games with the Dallas Bulls. When they were removed from the league Louisiana saw a chance to get better and jumped at the opportunity. Richard has gone on to produce 15 touches for 41 yards in 2 games with Louisiana. Now based on that alone he may not look very dangerous at all until you look at what he did for Dallas in 5 games. 

With the Dallas Bulls for the first 5 games of the season Richard produced 66 offensive touches for 309 yards and 7 touchdowns. He managed a 3 touchdown game against Amarillo, and found the endzone twice against Omaha. He also showed Louisiana first hand how impactful he could be when he played against the Rouxgaroux on April 18th. When he collected 15 carries for 68 yards and 1 touchdown. 

Louisiana's Defense 

In the first game between these two teams, Louisiana held the Storm to 24 points. Since that game, the Storm offense has failed to score 40 or more points just two times in seven tries. They have not scored under 27 points, and that came on the road against Salina. 

Meanwhile, Louisiana has allowed an average of 46.4 points since that game; if you remove Amarillo from that average, which only managed 23 points, it shoots to 52.25 points per game allowed. Their offense during this same stretch averaged 31.2 points. This is a large part of why Louisiana finds themselves 1-6. 

Tune-Up Game or Trap Game

On paper, this should be a blowout. In reality, it looks like a classic trap game if the team looks past Louisiana. A lot has changed since the first time these two teams have played, but let's not forget 6 points is all that separated them by the end of the game. 

Regardless of what the circumstances are following the bye week, whether the first seed is locked up or not, Southwest Kansas will still have plenty of motivation to complete an undefeated season start to finish. Leaving no doubt that the best team in the National Arena League in 2026 resides in Dodge City, Kansas.  

League Leaders

Under the direction of the current staff Storm fans have become accustomed to seeing their players splashed across the league leader board for stat categories, but in 2026 it has been dominant across the board. 

Trae Self & Matt Struck

Currently in Passing Yards Trae Self sits 5th with 595 yards and Matt Struck sits 6th with 586 yards. Combined they have accounted for 1,181 yards. They sit 6th and 7th respectively in passing touchdowns. Also right now Self sits second among starting quarterbacks for interception % with .038 behind only long-time indoor football veteran Lorenzo Brown. 

Jaden Sutton and Mason Pierce

Jaden Sutton holds both of the major rushing titles in the league right now with total rushing yards, and rushing touchdowns. Through 8 games Sutton has 372 yards rushing and 16 touchdowns, with 46.5 yards per game good for second in the league, behind only a player who played 2 games before being released and not resurfacing in the league. 

Sutton and Pierce have combined to form a "thunder and lightning" duo in the backfield with Sutton the bigger back who can break big runs, but he doesn't have the same open field speed as Pierce. Pierce is a wide receiver by trade but after this season he may add running back to his resume as he has for all intents and purposes served as the RB2 this season, even lining up in the backfield versus Salina being used to run stretch runs and get the ball to the edges of the field. Pierce has 30 carries for 138 yards and 3 touchdowns, he sits 11th in rushing yards currently: every single player ahead of him plays running back or quarterback.

Demarius Washington

Demarius Washington must be drinking from the fountain of youth because age does not seem to be slowing him down at all. Aging like a fine wine, Dee Wash continues to get better with time, and currently leads the National Arena League in receiving yards, and receiving yards per game. He is second in touchdowns. With 40 receptions for 597 yards and 12 touchdowns, he sits 66 yards ahead of second place, and just 1 touchdown away from a tie for first. 

Washington has been the steady veteran presence in a group of first year indoor football players at the receiver position. This has been a big reason why both quarterbacks have found success. Washington is a savvy route runner who knows how to beat man or zone coverage and is now coming off of a 4 touchdown game. His fourth multi-touchdown game of the season so far. 

Evan DiMaggio

Evan DiMaggio was mentioned in our last article as a guy who was playing at a Defensive Player of the Year level. Have a few more plays bounce his way and there would be no debate. Currently he stands atop the leader board with 6 sacks, and 4th with 35 tackles. Some will say he should have had an interception against Salina, and it was the 4th play of the season in which he could have come away with an interception but ultimately couldn't come away with the ball. Regardless he has been a wrecking ball this season and the defense has leaned heavily on his performance this season to slow offenses. 

Shaq Bond

Shaq Bond prompted some gasps as he met quarterback Evan Lewandowski and stonewalled him in the redzone, taking him off his feet with a completely clean hit that sent the crowd into a frenzy. Bond has made mistakes this season at safety, but he has also been one of the most active tacklers and it shows as he held the top spot in the league for weeks until this game against Salina when Hungerford surpassed him on the leaderboard. Bond has 45 tackles to his name. 

Jalen Knox

Jalen Knox logged 3 interceptions against Louisiana the first time they played, and has not collected another interception since that game. Somehow he remains in the top 5 of the league with 3 interceptions going into a game with Louisiana that may see him finally back to full strength after suffering a foot injury in practice following that game. Knox is a player who has big play potential on defense and in the return game. This bye week will only ensure he will be healthy for this game. 

Carlos Vazquez 

Carlos Vazquez currently stands in the top five of multiple categories. This includes point after attempts, point after conversions, PAT conversion rate, and field goal conversion rate. He is coming off of one of his toughest games all season, and still among the most accurate kickers in the league. Carlos has the belief of his coaching staff behind him and that has to help his confidence coming out of this game. 

UFL/CFL Update

Jalen Morton found the endzone for the first time as an Aviator this weekend. Showing off his patented power as a runner by pushing his way past defenders and staying up despite contact for a 15 yard touchdown run. Inexplicably, Morton has not been given a chance to start as of yet, but has thrown 3 passes completing 2 for a net of 0 yards. He has run 4 times for 18 yards and 1 touchdown. Could we see the Aviators turn to Morton as their starter by season's end if the losing continues? 

Michael Lawson has been more involved for the Aviators. Lawson currently stands 5th on the team with 22 tackles despite only playing in 5 of 7 games. He has nabbed .5 sacks, 1 interception, and 4 pass break ups. He is credited with 8 targets, and allowing just 4 catches. With 3 games remaining in the UFL regular season, there is still time for Lawson to continue building on his performance. 

Kevon Latulas another former member of the Storm has carved out a nice role for himself with the St. Louis Battlehawks where he has played since 2024. So far he has 55 offensive touches for 239 yards and 1 touchdown adding 6 kick returns for 149 yards in his third season with the team. In his first season there he did not see any offensive touches and instead focused his efforts on special teams where he collected 3 tackles in the playoffs. In 2025 he returned and had a solid season with 23 carries for 137 yards and 1 touchdown. The Battlehawks have been mixing him in more than ever this season, and involving him in other ways. Utilizing his skillset as a receiver and a return man more often which has resulted in him being far more productive for them in 2026. 

Desmond Bland has seemingly won a roster spot with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. Bland spent training camp with the Storm before signing with the New Orleans Saints for their rookie mini camp. He ultimately did not make the Saints' roster and rejoined the Storm late in the season and helped them make a playoff push. Later he would sign with the Toronto Argonauts where he competed for a roster spot in training camp. Bland has proven that he can be a versatile depth piece for the Argonauts with the ability to play all five positions on the offensive line if called upon. Don't be surprised if he see's significant snaps as a right tackle this season.