Southwest Kansas Storm Playoff Primer

by Cody Zeeb

Southwest Kansas Storm Defensive Back Michael Lawson runs with the ball

The Southwest Kansas Storm secured the #3 seed in the playoffs for the inaugural Arena Football One season. They’ll head to Nashville on Sunday, June 22nd, to face the Nashville Kats at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium. Kickoff time and coverage will be announced soon, so stay tuned! 


Season in Review 


The Storm kicked it all off, hosting the inaugural Arena Football One game in Week 0, all the way back on March 8th. Ironically enough, it was against these very same Nashville Kats. The Storm won that one 40-26 and will forever be the first team to win an AF1 game. The season was very front-loaded for the team that won in Week 1 over the Washington Wolfpack. When Week 2 came around, a beat-up and well-traveled Storm team went into Albany, where they suffered a brutal loss to the Firebirds. The next week, they were stunned by the Oregon Lightning as Dalton Cole and company walked them off on a last-second Hail Mary Pass. At 2-2 after four weeks of going through the ringer when it came to travel and getting the league off the ground, a tired and beat-up Storm team finally got a bye. 


Fresh off the bye, they held on for a close victory over the Salina Liberty on the road before going to Corpus Christi and beating the Tritons to bring their record back up to 4-2. The Nashville Kats came to town for a second time in Week 7, and this time got the best of the Storm 41-37. Southwest Kansas had an impressive win over the Billings Outlaws in Week 8 before going into a Week 9 bye. Their star quarterback, Jalen Morton, was signed by the UFL and spent the bye week in Birmingham. Luckily for the Storm, Morton returned to the team, and Week 10 brought a new look to the Billings team with the same results. Washington was no match for the team in Week 11 as they cruised to a 63-7 win.

After another late bye week, a perk of all those early-season games, the Storm would close out with back-to-back games against the Salina Liberty. A single win over those two games would have secured home-field advantage along with the #2 seed in the playoffs. Both games were all Storm early; they brought the thunder, lightning, and rain. In each game, the Liberty’s starting quarterback, Rakeem Cato, was injured, and they turned to Javin Kilgo to bring them back. He did so in both games, with the Storm losing on late-game field goals both weeks to end the season on a sour note. Ultimately, the Storm finished the regular season with a 7-5 record that gave them the second-most wins in the entire league. 

Coaches Thoughts 

Storm Head Coach Gary Thomas is very ready to move on from these final two Salina games and turn his attention to the postseason. While he’s disappointed the team doesn’t get a chance to play in front of their home fans this week, he’s looking forward to facing a tough Nashville team with a chance at a trip to the title game on the line. Coach Thomas feels positive about the way his team fought through these two games despite losing five starters in eight days. “The good part is that there is some familiarity there. So you can look at personnel, you can look at matchups, you can look at schematics.” “You’ll be able to make some comparisons versus playing against each other as well as their last few games to give you a better idea of what you might expect.” 


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. Once they get the personnel figured out, 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.” Coach Thomas said. Thomas expressed how proud he is of a team that’s in the smallest market in all of indoor football and has one of the smallest budgets in the league to be where they are with a strong shot in the playoffs. 

Offensive Player to Watch

It all starts with Jalen Morton. The MVP candidate has been a star all season long. He finished the season second in passing yards (2,314), second in passing yards per game (192.8), and third in passing touchdowns (40). He led the league in total rushing yards (488) by any position, as well as in rushing yards per game (40.7) and rushing touchdowns (17). Morton, who spent time with both the Indianapolis Colts and Green Bay Packers, also led the league in total yards on offense (2,802) and has been electric all season long. He’ll be the one to watch Sunday. 

Defensive Player to Watch

Even more so than their offense, it’s hard to focus on just one player on the defensive side of the ball. Michael Lawson has been a leader all year long for this defensive secondary. He flies all over the field on every play, constantly locking down defenders in coverage, making big plays, and wrapping up on important tackles. He leads the league in total tackles in 2025 (82), forced seven fumbles, recovered four fumbles, has six interceptions to his credit, and a defensive touchdown. Lawson should be a candidate for Defensive Player of the Year.