Southwest Kansas Storm Playbook: Kansas Rivalry Week

After a much-deserved bye week, the Southwest Kansas Storm are back in action for Week 5 of the Arena Football One season. They’ll take on cross-state rivals the Salina Liberty on Saturday evening April 12th. Kickoff from the Tony’s Pizza Events Center in Salina, Kansas, is set for 8:00 p.m. ET streaming on EvergreenNOW.

The Week Off 

Storm Head Coach Gary Thomas told me last week they were giving the team the entire week off to rest, recoup, and regroup after a brutal stretch to start the season. When we jumped on our weekly phone call, my first question to him was, “How was the week off? Did you guys enjoy it?” He laughed, “Not goanna lie, it was pleasant, it was pleasant, and I hope to do it again someday,” Thomas joked. But now it’s time to get back to it for the Storm, as they’ll play these next two weeks on the road, followed by two home games before their next bye week in Week 9. The Storm are healthy and ready to rock in Week 5. 

In State Game 

After the travel the Storm has been through to open the season, Coach Thomas is looking forward to a game just a few hours down the road, and he’s glad the Storm have a strong opponent so close they get to play multiple times a year. The teams are very familiar with one another; they played three times last season, and a few players on either team were once on the opposite team. “I think they’ll be very, very good,” was Thomas' reply when I asked what he expected from the Liberty this week. “They hung around with Albany,” “styles make fights, and our style versus their style is very comparable.” Coach Thomas expects a team that’s going to bring their best game yet, and “we need to be prepared to match their focus, their intensity and their execution.”