Southwest Kansas Storm Playbook: The Math is Easy

The Southwest Kansas Storm opened the season with the first-ever Arena Football One game in Week 0. Now they head into Week 14 with their playoff ticket punched and set for a Father’s Day showdown as the final regular season game in the AF1’s inaugural season. They’ll head to Salina, Kansas, this week to face the Liberty, whom they lost to in the final second (literally) in Week 13. Kickoff is set for Sunday, June 15th, 6:30 p.m. ET on VICETV. 

A Tough Loss 

Despite a tough loss to Salina in the final second after what they thought was a game-sealing interception, the Storm still controls its own destiny this week. A win will lock them in as the #2 seed and give them a home game next weekend in Dodge City. Head Coach Gary Thomas put it simply, “Lots of up and down emotions right now, but you can’t really dwell on that. We’ve got to concentrate on this week, which is the same as last week.” 

“We did a lot of things well, we just didn’t make enough plays to make the game definitively ours.” Coach Thomas feels the game was taken away from them, and while he’s frustrated with it, he’s ready to move on to face Salina again this week. The team did suffer some devastating injuries that led to wide receiver Shilo Flannigan and defensive back Reggie Bracy being placed on injured reserve, effectively ending their seasons and creating health concerns across this Storm roster as they head into Week 14. 

Salina Round Three 

“It’s going to come down to which team can make some minor adjustments, but ultimately, who executes better on gameday.” “We’ll put the best football team out there this weekend, and we’ll try to get on the right side of it.” Said Coach Thomas. The Storm have a unique advantage in playing the final game of the weekend. They’ll know the result of the Nashville vs Corpus game. If Nashville loses that game, Southwest Kansas will clinch the #2 seed and have nothing to play for when it comes to playoff scenarios. 

I asked Coach Thomas for his thoughts on that and what the team might do if Nashville wins. “We’re not worried about what anyone else does right now.” “Our goal is to win the game, get a home playoff game.” “We can control that.” “Right now, the math is easy. Win and you are at home, lose and figure out where you are going.” “Our sole focus is on winning the football game.”