Home Sweet Home

Finally after two weeks on the road, the Southwest Kansas Storm return home to the United Wireless Arena to take on the Oregon Lightning in week 3 of Arena Football One season. Headed home after consecutive trips to Washington and New York in a five day stretch, the team has had some signifcant changes that will affect the roster make up of this team. 

Changes on Both Sides of this Game

The Storm were forced to make some moves when unfortunate circumstances left them short handed. A season-ending injury to Daquan Bailey-Brown, and Dashaun Young returning home to focus on family left the Storm with two roster spots to fill, and a sudden lack of depth at wide receiver. That's when Coach Gary Thomas called up an old friend, his leading receiver from the 2024 season; Todd Athey. 

"What if we could have one last ride?" was the line that opened up a conversation about a return for Athey. Make no mistake, Athey is a completely different player than Daquan, but in this case, bringing in a player who could be an immediate impact was a necessity. Athey returns to a new look offense, that features a quarterback he is not familiar with, along with a host of new players on both sides of the ball. 

The Storm also brought in Jackson Flowers a pass rushing linebacker/defensive end. This criminal justice major from Kansas City, Kansas is looking to help lock down the opposing offenses and improve upon a unit that has at times had it's trouble getting to the passer. The Storm made what accounted for 4 transactions to get their roster right for a home stand against Oregon. 

Oregon Shuffles Roster in Anticipation of Week 3

Heading into week 3 against the Storm, Oregon is now 0-2 after being embarrassed in week 1 against Billings, and beat in a shoot out with Washington's new quarterback former FCF MVP Ed Crouch. Currently they stand at a -59 point differential, -52 of which came in week 1 against the Outlaws. Knowing they faced another tough opponent in week 3 as they looked to rebound from an 0-2 start, the Lightning would make a total of 10 corresponding moves. 

Ultimately the defense was the unit that saw the most turnover. The Lightning brought in Joe Powell a primary defensive back, Miqueal Pillow-Smiley on defensive line, Cortlind Mallory at linebacker, as well as Jerry Kinney who can play wide receiver but also defensive back and potentially linebacker as well. They also added Knoa Smith an offensive linemen. In their five corresponding moves, they released Tray Kingsland, defensive back, Cameron Hall, linebacker, Josh Higbee, defensive back, Raekwon Kent, offensive lineman, and Tyler Cooperwood, wide receiver. 

Match Ups to Watch

The match up that everyone is wondering about, is of course the Storm wide receiver unit versus the Lightning's defensive backs. With two players lost, and one more coming in, that leaves the Storm with only 4 healthy receivers on the roster currently, but it also means they can line up with 3 receivers standing 6'4 or taller. That is quite literally a tall task for any secondary, especially when all three of these players are indoor football veterans. 

Charles Hall could end up being an X-factor in this game, his value in the passing game, as the 3rd/4th option, kick returner, and kick coverage ace. He will also be filling some of the role vacated by Bailey-Brown. He is the player that most closely resembles what Bailey-Brown brought to the offense. Hall is built like a running back at 5'11 200 pounds, and runs like one after the catch. He gave the offense a near-immediate spark when he entered the game against Albany. 

Oregon does have some taller defensive backs with Nicholas Brassell, KeAdris Ardley, and Jerry Kinney in the mix. The question will be how much playing time if any Kinney gets, as he just rejoined the team. The same could  be said about Joe Powell, although the reality is one or both of these players will have to play significant snaps, Kinney may get that nod due to his ability to play multiple roles, and his size against what could be a very tall receiver group at any moment. 

Work in Progress 

There were not many positives coming out of a blowout loss to Albany, but one of those positives was the fact that the Storm set what amounted to a record for rushing yards by a team, according to ArenaFan.com. With 20 carries the Storm put up 138 yards and 3 touchdowns. The passing offense however did not get off the ground in this one, and the team finished 11 of 25 for 104 yards and 3 interceptions. 

One of the things that will likely be changing in the near future is back-up quarterback Jairus Grissom playing less linebacker, and potentially more on offense as the much needed depth at wide receiver. With the Storm bringing in a 5th defensive back, and adding Flowers. I imagine with Flowers joining the team early in the week, he could play as soon as this weekend, even if it's in a rotation with other players. 

Penalties were a concern coming out of this game as well. Several penalties prevented the offense from sustaining drives and this made a tough game get out of hand. The goal had been to limit Albany's drives, and play keep away on offense by running the ball and keeping the chains moving without many deep shots. 

While ultimately the team fell short of victory against Albany, they could redeem themselves and go into the bye week at 3-1 allowing the team to heal up before facing the currently 0-2 Salina Liberty. 

MVP Pace

While Jalen Morton had a less than stellar game in week 2, he has already compiled 433 passing yards, 6 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions through 3 games adding 165 rushing yards for another 6 touchdowns. In last week's game he broke a long run but came up limping a bit after the play, he hung in the game until the 4th quarter when the game was well out of hand showing he is the exact type of leader you want in a quarterback. 

Currently he stands second in passing yards, behind only Dalton Cole. He is third in touchdown passes with 6, he is also 5th in passing yards per game. He is leading the league in rushing by nearly 100 yards, and stands atop the leaderboard for rushing touchdowns as well. If Morton continues this, he will force his way into the MVP consideration in his first ever season playing arena football. 

Jalen Morton also leads the league in points scored with 36, and this is only counting non-passing touchdowns, and total yards of offense with 598. Currently the Storm are the only team to have played three games to this point. 

Break Out Players 

Other than Jalen Morton, Shiloh Flanagan, and Daquan Bailey-Brown have both been making some noise. Flanagan is third in receiving yards, and Bailey-Brown stands 5th as of right now. Last week was the first game this season that Flanagan had not found the endzone for the Storm. He stands tied for third place with 3 receiving touchdowns. 

Joe Golden has already been seen playing defensive end and nose tackle. He leads the team in tackles for a loss with 5, has logged 2 sacks and 1 forced fumble. Keep an eye out for Tizell Lewis the defensive back signed before the Albany game. Coming out of the University of Northern Colorado, Lewis had briefly signed with the Bay Area Panthers of the Indoor Football League before being let go in final cuts and almost immediately landing with the Storm. A former college teammate of Joe Golden, the former Bears are reunited in Dodge City with the Storm. 

Charles Hall is another player who could be in line for a larger role with the team after the injury to Bailey-Brown. Hall took over the kick return duties accounting for 77 yards on 5 kick returns. His average of 15 yards per return is second only to Bailey-Brown among players with 2 or more kick returns this season. He added 2 receptions for 34 yards, and added 6 tackles on special teams. He has been a factor in multiple roles, and that should only continue as the season goes on. 

Where to Watch the Game

The Storm are back on Vice TV against the Lightning this week for their third straight nationally broadcast game. Vice TV is available via multiple streaming services including HULU Live TV, and FrndlyTV. Hulu Live TV offers a 3-day free trial Frndly TV offers a 7-day free trial. The game kicks off at 5 pm Central Time. The broadcast team is Ari Wolfe, Sherdrick Bonner, and sideline reporter Sofia Gutierrez.