Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, humans and Arena Football One fans of all shapes, sizes and species, Week 13 is behind us and Week 14 is FINALLY here. All of our playoff questions will soon be answered. Week 13 was an incredible weekend of surprises and oftentimes pretty messy Arena Football.
Oregon came up huge. Salina found a way to sneak by the Storm despite another MVP caliber performance from Jalen Morton. Billings shocked Nashville and mucked up all of the playoff matchups from Number Three down.
The Power Rankings didn’t change much this week. Oregon and Corpus Christi swapped spots at Number Six and Seven because despite Fred Payton Jr’s hard work, the Tritons will not be recovering from losing a bulk of their roster due to payroll issues. We’ll get more into this later. Let’s go ahead and set up our rankings and give you something to think about for this weekend where EVERY TEAM is in action.
1. Albany– Albany is back at it Saturday and I hope they enjoyed their rest because this weekend they’ll face the tenacious Washington Wolfpack who are currently on a five game losing streak. Is it possible Washington’s just been playing possum for the entirety of this season so they could SHOCK Albany and ruin their perfect season this weekend? Only one way to find out. Honestly, Albany could probably give Sam Castronova another week off if they wanted too.
2. SW Kansas– The Storm have been beasting upward since Week Eight but their loss to Salina revealed that there’s still some real holes in their attack. They are chock-full of talent and grit but there’s a recurring factor in all of their losses. Some coaching staffs play chess. Some play checkers and when the game gets close, it sometimes feels like Coach Gary Thomas is a little out of his depth.
3. Nashville– The Kats have surrendered a great deal of momentum with their loss to Billings in Week 13. They went into their game against Billings with an opportunity to take a step towards the Number Two spot and home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs. They instead took a nice swift humbling kick to the teeth. Speaking of kicking, they HAVE to figure out a solution to Kicker Gunner Raborn’s recent slump. I’ve been monitoring the waiver wire this week and they’ve yet to make a move. They’ll go into Week 14 with a little more uncertainty than I’m sure Coach Darren Arbet would’ve liked. With the loss to Billings, there’s now a version of this weekend’s results that ends with the Kats outside of the playoff picture looking in.
4. Salina– Coach Heron O’Neal is making a real case for Coach of the Year. This Salina season is how things COULD’VE gone for Washington. They are the PERFECT example of how you rebuild a struggling team on the fly. They’ve shown us it can be done in a remarkably effective and efficient way. Salina started this season 0-4 and since Week Five has only lost one game. They enter Week 14 occupying the final spot in the playoffs, on a three game winning streak and with their destiny in their own hands. They’ve done nothing but rise to the occasion this season and I can’t wait to see if they can do it again against their interstate rivals the SW Kansas Storm.
5. Billings– Billings played one of their best games of the year in Week 13. Coach Cedric Walker has assembled a team and plan of attack that can paper over their own mistakes and capitalize on their opponent’s. That’s a big reason they beat Nashville. They were able to take advantage of mistakes while Nashville just couldn’t stay out of their own way.
6. Oregon– I was surprised Oregon beat the Tritons in Week 13. I was certain they’d figure out a way to give that game away. And boy did they try. Fortunately for them, the Tritons offense just refused to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
7. Corpus Christi– With their loss to Oregon, the Tritons have been eliminated from playoff contention but this weekend Fred Payton Jr will at the very least force Nashville to earn a victory. It should be a solid game. If the Tritons can eliminate a couple Delay of Game penalties and make some PAT’s they might actually pull off an upset. Maybe.
8. Washington– In an interview previewing Washington’s season finale, AF1’s Dan Vreeland said, “Coach JR Wells embraces the struggle of the tight games they’ve been in and the rough spots they’ve been in.” For the record they’ve been outscored in their last five games 292-50. I’m not sure what tight games he’s referring to but Coach Wells and the Wolfpack have certainly had plenty of struggle to embrace. We’ll see how all of that embracing translates into positive yardage against Albany on Saturday.
I want to hold the Playoff Picture breakdown until the end this week. If you’re in a hurry for that portion, it’s towards the bottom marked, “THE FIGHT FOR FOUR.”
Before we dive into the Week 13 recaps, let’s recognize the AF1’s Players of the Week.
This week’s overall AF1 Player of the Week is Salina QB Javin Kilgo.
We’ll get more into Kilgo’s performance in our breakdown of Salina/SW Kansas but I do want to go ahead and shout out the fact that Kilgo put up these monster numbers while not even entering the game until the second quarter.
For Offensive Player of the Week, the AF1 need look no further than the QB in the opposing huddle from Kilgo, Storm QB Jalen Morton did everything but kick in this incredibly close loss for SW Kansas.
Defensive Player of the Week went to Nashville Kats Defensive Back Shaun Lewis.
We’ll have some clips of those picks in our Kats/Outlaws breakdown.
Salina Liberty Kicker Bailey Hale picked up Special Teams Player of the Week while continuing to demonstrate the importance of being able to score on special teams. More on this in our Liberty/Storm breakdown.
Going into Week 14, our top four teams are Albany, SW Kansas, Nashville and Salina. Three of those four have kickers that can be counted on for 8-12 points a game. That’s just something for Oregon, Washington and Corpus Christi to mull over while prepping for next season.
Let’s dive into the recaps and let’s start with what was easily the best game of the weekend–
Liberty Weathers the Storm
Salina Kicks Their Way to Victory
Standings Ranking- Fourth
Previous Power Ranking- Fourth
NEW Power Ranking- Fourth
The AF1 Player of the Week Javin Kilgo had a rough ROUGH start to the 2025 season. For those of you just joining us, Kilgo was the Liberty’s starting Quarterback for their first four games this season. They lost all of them. Kilgo threw so many interceptions in those games that he’s still second in the league in picks despite the fact that he hasn’t started a game since April 25.
The situation that would require Kilgo to come in and play hero began brewing early in this game. The first quarter had not been going great for the Liberty. They were making uncharacteristic mistakes and the Storm were taking advantage of all of them. Then things got worse.
With 37 seconds left in the first, the Storm were ahead 23-9. Some solid Special Teams play from SW Kansas had forced the Liberty to start the series at their own two yard line.
Rakeem “The Dream” Cato took the snap and dropped back into his own end zone. The Storm got through the line fast and Cato threw it away just before he was crushed by the Storm’s defensive line. Flag.
Cato was flagged for intentional grounding which meant the Storm were awarded a Safety. They’d now get two points and the ball back. The refs had walked us through all of this before anyone noticed that Cato still hadn’t gotten back to his feet. Not good.
When the Liberty offense took the field early in the second quarter, Kilgo lined up behind center. He proceeded to give an astonishing MUST HAVE performance for the Liberty. He would finish this game 24-38 passing for 319 yards and seven touchdowns. He did a phenomenal job spreading the wealth as well. Kilgo had three receivers with multiple TD catches.
Kilgo’s most prolific targets of the night were Running Back Tracy Brooks and Wide Receiver Malik Honeycutt. Brooks finished with ten catches for 157 yards and two scores. Please enjoy this clip where he catches a pass at mid-field, breaks a tackle, straight up TRUCKS a defensive back and then scores to pull the Liberty within ten.
Not to be outdone, Honeycutt had 11 catches for 132 yards and four touchdowns.
Bailey Hale needs a freaking nickname. “The Late Great” Bailey Hale has a good ring to it but the man’s not dead. I need Salina to get into the playoffs. The world deserves more Bailey Hale. “The Salina Slayer.” Does that sound too much like he’s “slaying” Salina?
Hale had no problem slaying the SW Kansas Storm. He went eight for eight on PAT’s, hit three deuces and DRILLED his one attempted field goal from 22 yards out. He finished with 17 of the of the Liberty’s 65 points.
Fun fact about “The Salina Slayer,” he has scored double digit points in every game he’s played in this season.
Storm Stumble Late
Standings Ranking- Second
Previous Power Ranking- Second
NEW Power Ranking- Second
If Jalen Morton doesn’t win MVP, it’s going to be because Albany goes undefeated and wins the title. Don’t get me wrong. Sam Castronova is a fantastic quarterback, but Jalen Morton is an Offensive Monster. If he could figure out how to catch passes while also playing QB, he’d lead the league in catches.
Right now, Morton is second in Touchdown Passes, second in Pass Completions and second in Passing Yards. He’s also leading the league in rushing yards and he’s second in rushing TD’s. He’s also the only QB in the league who spent one week in the UFL and came back without missing a single game.
Morton continued to boost his MVP case in Week 13. He went 19-32 passing for 316 yards and four touchdown passes. He also ran for 26 yards and scored two touchdowns on the ground.
Charles Hall IV continues to set himself apart from the rest of this incredible Storm offense. I think the energy that allows him to stand out is his tenacity. Hall doesn’t just catch a pass, he RIPS it from the air. He doesn’t just run for a touchdown he PUNCHES it in. Hall plays with intensity and an incredible force. He’s the kind of receiver that makes a defensive back dread going to work.
In the Storm’s Week 13 loss, Hall certainly did everything he could do. He caught 11 passes for 221 yards and three touchdowns.
On the defensive side of the ball, Michael Lawson put up numbers that cannot be denied. He had six tackles and had a strip that led to a touchdown. Watch how easily Lawson rips this ball away from Tracy Brooks and then tosses Brooks to the ground like one might toss an apple core into the trash.
Storm Kicker Dillon Burkhard’s numbers aren’t usually Henry Nell or even Bailey Hale numbers, but Burkhard is reliable. He’s going to get his job done and in the Storm’s loss to Salina, he did that and more. He finished seven for seven in PAT’s, went one for two in field goals and kicked one deuce. He had 12 of the Storm’s 63 points.
Salina and SW Kansas will run this back in Week 14 on Sunday, June 15. This time Salina will have home field advantage and the game will be ViceTV’s Game of the Week.
Oregon Lights Up Tritons
Lightning Come Through in Must Win
Standings Ranking- Sixth
Previous Power Ranking- Seventh
NEW Power Ranking- Sixth
Dalton Cole continues to do EVERYTHING he has to do to will the Oregon Lightning forward. I’m not a huge fan of throwing around overly masculine hyperbole, but Cole is just tough. If you told me he’s in a bare knuckle boxing league on his off days I’d believe you.
Cole threw everything and the kitchen sink at the Tritons in this game. He finished 15-24 passing for 160 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for 19 yards and had two more scores on the ground. Cole now leads the league in Passing yards and Rushing touchdowns.
Maurice Ashley has become a jack of all trades for the Lightning. As their return man, he returned four kicks for 58 yards. He also had three carries for 53 yards and one rushing touchdown.
Ashley was also a reliable target for Cole in the air. He had four catches for 67 and another touchdown.
Tritons Descent Continues
Standings Ranking- Seventh
Previous Power Ranking- Sixth
NEW Power Ranking- Seventh
This has been a difficult year for Fred Payton Jr. With their Week 13 loss to the Lightning, Corpus not only lost their sixth in a row, they also knocked themselves out of playoff contention. It wasn’t for a lack of trying on Payton’s part. He finished this one 14-32 passing for 195 yards and three touchdown passes.
Payton also ran one in.
Fred got a lot of help from his two favorite receivers. Quintavious Workman had eight catches for 98 yards and one touchdown.
Richy Anderson II finished with four catches for 70 yards and two touchdowns of his own.
The Tritons defense did what they could do to slow down the Lightning offense. Linebacker Chase Alisauckas finished with seven tackles and one sack.
Josiah King had five tackles.
Donnie Lewis Jr. came up big with four tackles and a pick.
Oregon will go into a Win or Go Home against the Billings Outlaws for Week 14 on Saturday, June 14.
Corpus Christi will close the season on the road against the Nashville Kats.
The Outlaws Out Duel Nashville
Billings Barrels Forward
Standings Ranking- Fifth
Previous Power Ranking- Fifth
NEW Power Ranking- Fifth
It wasn’t an easy night for Malik Henry. He was far from perfect but Malik and the Outlaws offense did what they needed to do to upset what I feel is a superior Nashville football team. Despite throwing two interceptions, Malik still put up BIG GAME numbers and made big plays when Billings needed them.
He ultimately finished 15-27 in passing for 259 yards and five touchdowns.
Malik also ran for 29 yards. Which is impressive for Henry considering he’s not really a running QB.
139 of Malik’s passing yards went to future hall of famer Darius Prince. Prince had eight catches and three touchdowns.
Prince is now first in the league in receiving yards and second in touchdowns with 23.
The Tritons defense also came up huge for Billings. Defensive lineman Sidney Houston Jr had eight tackles, one sack and a safety.
D-Back Dwayne Hollis came through with six tackles and one pick.
Kicker Dean “Ole” Faithful continues to live up to his own name. He did miss his one field goal attempt but Faithful was five for seven in PAT’s and added on one deuce for good measure. He contributed seven of Billings’ 51 points.
Kats Struggle in Troubling Loss
Standings Ranking- Third
Previous Power Ranking- Third
NEW Power Ranking- Third
Tyler Kulka put up numbers in the Kats loss that made all of the KULKAMANIACS proud, brother. Like he put up huge numbers. BIG. Like it’s hard to ignore the fact that Nashville has no running game numbers.
Kulka was 27-45. He threw the ball 45 freaking times for 299 yards and four touchdowns.
Kulka’s two most prolific targets were Nih-Jer Jackson and Jordon Gandy. Between them they caught 21 of Kulka’s 27 complete passes. Jackson had 11 catches for 107 yards and one touchdown.
Gandy caught 10 passes for 125 yards and a touchdown of his own.
The Kats had a lot of issues in this game. They made mistakes they don’t normally make. They failed to take advantage of mistakes that Billings made. These things happen. One thing they absolutely have to fix and correct is the efficiency of Kicker Gunner Raborn. Raborn’s been on a slump since returning from injury two weeks ago and while, yes he did improve a bit in this loss to Billings, he has still yet to return to his nearly perfect percentages of pre-injury times. Raborn went 0-2 in PAT’s against Billings. It forced Nashville to rely on 2pt conversions. They went 0-3 on those. That’s eight points left on the table. Kats fans will take the improvement, but if Nashville wants to make an impact in these playoffs, they’re going to need Raborn sharp.
The Kats will close the season at home against the Corpus Christi Tritons in the first game of the weekend on Saturday night.
Billings will head to Redmond, Oregon to take on the Oregon Lightning in a must win.
The Fight for Four
Week 13 did almost nothing to answer the questions we had about playoff positions. Really for me, it only raised more questions. I was positive Nashville would beat Billings and Corpus would beat Oregon. POSITIVE. Shows what I know. New rule, never bet against an angry Dalton Cole when the opposing team doesn’t have a defensive line.
We’ve recapped Week 13. We’ve discussed what matchups are in Week 14. Let’s talk about the variables to watch this weekend and what results mean what for the FIRST AF1 playoffs.
One certainty we now have is that the Storm WILL be the Number Two spot. That’s it. And I should add the AF1’s official playoff picture breakdown has different math than I do. They don’t have that two spot locked up yet, but if you look at the standings and prospective win percentages, no one can finish higher than the Storm. So, I’m going to stand by that. SW Kansas will host a round one playoff game. Ready the finery Dodge City.
The Storm have the Kats’ Week 13 loss to thank for their good fortune.
Let’s talk about who will play the Storm from the Number Three spot.
Right now, Nashville is sitting pretty at Number Three. If they win in Week 14, they’ll finish with a .600 win percentage and they’ll hold that spot.
With that Week 13 loss though, there are now multiple scenarios that not only knock Nashville out of the Three but knock them all the way out of the playoffs.
If Nashville loses they finish .500, and Salina wins their Week 14 matchup with the Storm, Salina would finish with a .545 win percentage and jump to the Three.
If the Kats lose, Salina wins and Billings wins, things get even hairier for Nashville. A Billings win would give them a .500 win percentage to finish the year and since Billings beat Nashville in their head to head this season, Billings gets the tiebreaker. Meaning Billings would get the Number Four spot and Nashville would get an early ticket home.
There’s also a single scenario that gets Billings all the way to that Number Three spot. If Nashville and Salina lose and Billings wins: Nashville falls to Four, Salina is out and Billings jumps from Five to Three in one weekend.
With the Oregon Lightning’s Week 13 win over the Tritons, they have also earned a single scenario to get into the playoffs. If Oregon defeats Billings in Week 14 they’ll finish with a .461 win percentage. If Nashville loses, Salina loses and Oregon wins: Nashville will hold onto the Number three spot, Salina falls out of the playoffs and Oregon gets the Four spot and a one way trip to Albany for Round One.
That’s all the Week 13 news that’s fit to print. Everyone is in action in Week 14. Will Albany finish the season undefeated? Can Oregon sneak into the playoffs? Can Salina sweep the Storm to end the season?
Find out in Week 14 of Arena Football One.
