Arena Crown Playoff Semifinals Preview

Four teams remain with a chance to be crowned the first-ever champions of Arena Football One. Win this week and lock in your spot in the first-ever Arena Crown Championship game next week. The action kicks off with a rematch of an overtime thriller in Albany on Saturday. Sunday’s matchup in Nashville pits two electric teams against each other. Now that we know the teams, let’s look at how they match up. 

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Salina Liberty at Albany Firebirds

Saturday, June 21st 7:00 p.m. ET EVERGREENNOW

The first battle should be a good one. The Salina Liberty head to MVP Arena in Albany, New York, to take on the undefeated Firebirds. These two teams matched up back in Week 8 in an absolute barn burner. The final score in overtime was Albany 64, Salina 58. It was a back-and-forth affair that saw a 44-42 score at halftime and the offenses going crazy in the first half. The second half slowed down a little when it came to scoring, but not to action. In the fourth quarter, the teams exchanged blows to the bitter end. The Liberty scored the go-ahead touchdown with just 10 seconds left on the clock, only to have it wiped away by a penalty. Albany went on to win in overtime, remaining unbeaten. Salina is the team that gave the Firebirds the biggest run for their money all season, and now they have revenge on the mind. This game has all the makings of a potential instant classic, and you won’t want to miss it. 

Salina would love to avenge what they believe was a questionable call at the end of regulation that took away their shot at the win. They’ve been in playoff mode for four weeks now and showed up big time, especially the last two weeks in must-win situations against their rivals to even get to this point. They are on a four-game winning streak, their last loss coming in Week 8 to Albany. Prior to that loss, they’d won their previous two games as well. So it’s just another playoff game for them. They can ruin a perfect Albany season, and keep the dream alive with a win this week. As Head Coach Heron O’Neal put it, “Nobody’s expecting us to win, nobody’s expecting us to show up. They’ve already stamped it with Albany as the national champion for this year.” “So I don’t think motivation is going to be an issue this week.” “We’re going to play our game, and do the best we can. Do what we’ve always done in every game we’ve played in. We’re going to come in and expect to win.”

For Albany, it’s been perfect. They’ve played 10 and won 10. They had a great regular season last year, but fell in the championship game to Billings. They’ve had that on their minds all season. They made it through a perfect regular season, now they look to become the first team in major arena football history to complete a perfect season and win the title. They are the opposite of Salina, in that they haven’t really had anything to play for in a long time. The question of rust vs rest comes into play here. They had bye weeks in Weeks 10, 12, and 13. Along with inferior opponents in weeks 11 and 14, resulting in them not needing to play their starters as much. Can they answer the bell and come out swinging against a team that’s been scraping for their lives for half the season? “A lot of the guys here now were here last year. They know what it felt like to lose that game, and we don’t want to feel that again. We’ve talked about unfinished business,” Coach Damon Ware Said. 

Players to Watch 

Quarterback will be the biggest question for Salina. Will Rakeem Cato be back after suffering an injury last week? Or will they turn to trusty veteran Javin Kilgo? Both have been great in the time they’ve spent playing, and despite Cato starting both of their last two games, Kilgo came in and played hero to lead the team to both wins and win back-to-back Real American Beer Player of the Week honors. Fast Ed Smith and Malik Honeycutt lead a dynamic and quick wide receiver core that’s dangerous on every snap. 

Albany is led by Sam Castronova. Castronova is likely the leader in the clubhouse for league MVP, and while he hasn’t always played for a long time in each game, it’s sure been a good time. He leads the league in touchdown passes (48), and there are quite a few games where he didn’t even play the second half. Duane Brown is an all-world wide receiver who came up big against the Firebirds in the championship game last year. They went out and signed the stud, and he’s been just that for them against this season. He leads the league in average receiving yards per game (90.9) and touchdown catches (30). Don’t count out the kickers in this game; both Bailey Hale and Henry Nell have been electric and impressive this season. Their ability to add extra points in various ways could be the difference in this one. 

Southwest Kansas Storm at Nashville Kats 

Sunday, June 22nd 5:30 p.m. ET on VICETV

Another heavyweight matchup that won’t disappoint. The Southwest Kansas Storm travel to Clarksville, Tennessee, where they’ll meet the Nashville Kats at F&M Bank Arena. The winner of Saturday’s game will be watching this one intensely to see who they’ll face in the Arena Crown Championship Game. These teams matched up twice during the regular season. They played the first-ever Arena Football One game back in Week 0, where the Storm came away with a win, but Nashville looks a lot different now than they did then. When they rematched in Week 7, it was a nail-biter that ended with Nashville on top 41-37. 

The Storm come into this one after holding the #2 seed and home playoff game in their hands a majority of the season, before losing twice to the Salina Liberty on last-second field goals in the final two weeks of the season to let the #2 seed slip from their hands. The Storm were 7-3 heading into the final two weeks, and in both games got up big early, and let it slip away late. It’s been a recurring theme for the Storm, who come out swinging but trail off late. The Storm’s biggest question mark heading into the weekend is player health and replacements. Defensive back Dontra Matthews was the latest edition of starters who won’t return this season due to injury. Coach Thomas feels great about the X’s and O’s. “We’ll put the best football team out there and try to execute at a high level like we always do.”

The Kats come in winners of three of their last four games and the beneficiaries of the Storm dropping their final two games to snag this home playoff game. The team started really firing on all cylinders down the stretch, and outside of the Week 13 loss to the Outlaws, they looked great. The biggest question with Nashville is the level of competition their wins came against. Their only win against a playoff team was the Week 7 victory over the Storm. They went 0-3 in their other three matchups against playoff opponents, and also dropped that game to Billings. The energy in the locker room and at practice has been palpable since becoming playoff-bound. The guys have been great. They understand the opportunity that’s in front of them. They are working hard to get ready to play four quarters of football.” Head Coach Darren Arbet said.

Players to Watch 

Jalen Morton has been the biggest challenger to Castranova in the MVP race, and he led the league in running yards (488), rushing touchdowns (17), was second in passing yards (2314), second in passing yards per game (192.8), and third in passing touchdowns (40). Morton will be missing top target Shilo Flannigan, who resides on the IR,  but Charles Hall IV has stepped up big time for the team, reeling in 15 touchdown passes on the year. 

Tyler Kulka brought “Kulamania” to Nashville and has impressed. He finished fourth in the league in passing yards (1722), third in passing yards per game (191.3), and fourth in touchdown passes (31). Wide receivers Antwane Grant and Nih-Jer Jackson have provided a much-needed spark and a lot of speed to the wide receiver room in Nashville.