Week Ten in the AF1 has come and gone and it was chock full of hard hits and BIG plays. What did we learn? The Storm look great. The Outlaws have some growing to do and hopefully time to do it before the playoffs. Oregon surprised me for the third week in a row and Washington is… still in the league.
As we leave the ancient history that is Week Ten and get ready to barrel into the ball pit of excitement and the unknown that is sure to be Week Eleven, here’s an updated power ranking with a quick note.
- Albany- Fun tidbit, Albany has locked down the number one seed in the AF1 playoffs. They haven’t confirmed whether or not they’ve already secured a spot in their trophy case for the AF1 Title.
- SW Kansas- I can no longer deny the Storm their place just below Albany. They look great and they will go as far as Jalen Morton can carry them. They’ll hold onto Number Two in the playoff race no matter what happens this weekend.
- Nashville- The Kats are currently also third in the standings. I do think they’ll beat the Lightning on Saturday and hold this spot. If they lose, they’ll fall out of the top four.
- Salina- I’m keeping Salina at Four until they lose again. They’ll have to win out to even sniff the playoffs. Their matchup with Billings this weekend will tell us a lot about both teams.
- Billings- The Outlaws have a lot to prove this weekend. They NEED to beat Salina to possibly jump the Lightning and the Tritons into the playoff picture.
- Oregon- Why do I still have Oregon at number Six? Because I don’t believe they can beat Nashville, Salina or Billings. We’ll see if I’m right come Saturday. I think they’re about to go on a two game losing streak. If they do pull out a win over the Kats, they’ll move into Fourth place in the playoff race and possibly even third if things break their way.
- Corpus Christi- The New Tritons have played only one game and they didn’t look great. They had a bye for Week Ten which is good because they had more time to congeal as a team. Unfortunately, they will lose this weekend to the Firebirds and their winning percentage will likely drop them to Fifth in the league and out of the playoffs.
- Washington- The Wolfpack will also lose this weekend and allow the Storm to grab a firmer hold on the Number Two seed.
Now some quick news before the recaps.This week the AF1 gave us their own breakdown of the current Playoff Picture.
The Week 10 overall Player of the Week is awarded to Jalen Morton who put up some amazing numbers that we’ll dive into in more detail later.
Week Ten’s Offensive Player of the Week is awarded to Billings’ QB Malik Henry.
The Defensive Player of the Week is Oregon’s Nic Brassell.
The Special Teams Player of the Week is Billings’ Kicker Dean “Old” Faithful.
Congratulations to these gentlemen. With that, let’s dive into the Week Ten recaps and let’s start with–
Storm Rain on Outlaws Parade
Storm Stomp Billings
Standings Ranking- Second
Previous Power Ranking- Third
NEW Power Ranking- Second
The Storm are absolutely peaking at the right time of year. They’re now on a two game winning streak and have won four of their last five. They defeated the Outlaws in Week Eight and then again in Week Ten. They’re currently ranked second in the league with a record of 6 and 3. They will make the playoffs and they have a real opportunity to run the table the rest of the way.
There were two big concerns for the Storm coming into this Week Ten game. One, this would be their first encounter with new Outlaws QB Malik Henry, more on his performance later. The second concern was whether or not they’d actually have their own star QB Jalen Morton. You might recall that Morton signed with the Birmingham Stallions of the UFL on May 7 and it was uncertain when or if he’d be able to resume his duties as the Storm’s standard bearer.
Fortunately for the Storm and Coach Gary Thomas, Morton’s stay in Birmingham was brief this time, but with his ongoing excellence in SW Kansas, I’m sure another opportunity will come around shortly.
Right now the Storm are firing on all cylinders. Morton’s chemistry with his receivers is arguably the best of any offense in the league. He’s thrown 28 TD passes. Their defense doesn’t make dumb mistakes and for the most part they’ve stayed away from penalty issues on both sides of the ball.
With their performance in this game and with this win over Billings, the Storm have definitively earned their seat at the top tier table.
They scored in their first NINE drives and had one turnover. I found myself looking for areas they could improve. The only room for improvement I’d pick out in this game is Kicker Dillon Burkhard’s deuce attempts.
The AF1 is filled with fantastic kickers, the best of which are able to make game changing contributions to their teams. Burkhard is one of those guys. Billings Kicker Dean Faithful is another one. Early in this game you got the sense that these two kickers were excited about facing off with one another.
For Burkhard, this manifested with him clearly attempting to kick deuces; which is great when you succeed. Burkhard got one. One’s not bad. Other kickers in this league would give their non-dominant foot for one deuce. The problem is what tends to happen when Burkhard misses. Burkhard’s missing deuces isn’t a targeting issue. His ability to kick it right down the middle, even in a stadium with a low hanging scoreboard, is amazing. Sometimes, and I say this with all due respect, he just doesn’t have the leg. When his kicks fall short, and in this game he fell short three times, they land just under the crossbar but over the barrier. This is of course a touchback which allows Billings to start their drive on the 20 yard line.
If this were a 100 yard field, no big deal, but if you’re reading this, you no doubt know that the Arena Football field is 50 yards. So, Burkhard’s under-kicked deuces give away almost half of the field to their opponent. Later in the game, Burkhard started kicking off of the rebound net which gave the Storm kickoff team the opportunity to lengthen Billings’ field.
That’s the one thing the Storm could’ve tightened up. They played a fantastic game. If they keep up this level of excellence and we’re all lucky they’ll give Albany a run for their money come playoff time.
Let’s get into more specific numbers:
- Player of the Week Jalen Morton finished 18-28 for 272 yards and threw six touchdown passes. He also ran for one touchdown and threw ZERO picks.
- Charles Hall IV was Morton’s favorite target of the night. He caught ten passes for four touchdowns.
- Demarius Washington caught five of nine targets for one touchdown.
- Shiloh Flanagan caught three passes for one touchdown.
- Logan Wright didn’t have the most productive game but he did record one touchdown on the ground.
- Defensive Lineman Marje Smith recovered one fumble and returned it for a touchdown.
- Kicker Dillon Burkhard had a huge game. He went seven for eight in PAT’s and kicked one deuce for a total of Nine points. Which in case you didn’t notice is the exact amount that the Storm won by.
Outlaws Run Outta Time
Standings Ranking- Sixth
Previous Power Ranking- Fifth
NEW Power Ranking- Fifth
We’ve now seen what it looks like when these revamped Outlaws play a real football team. New QB Malik Henry looks great. He and Darius Prince have a clear connection. In fact, this whole receiving corps is fantastic. I do think they’re a better team than the Outlaws that lost to Albany a month ago.
In the first offensive series of this game, Malik Henry started 0-5. His next pass was a touchdown and he would only throw four more incomplete passes in the entire game. These guys are good. They just happened to run into a better team in the Storm.
When you have two teams that are this good, mistakes count. They had two turnovers that were costly. Henry had a fumble that was run all the way back for a defensive touchdown. The second was a turnover on downs which also resulted in a Storm touchdown.
Coach Cedric Walker made a few Special Teams play calls that definitely didn’t go as planned. They tried an onside kick that failed and gave the Storm the ball on the six yard line. They tried a bouncing squib kick that Storm running back and return man Logan Wright played perfectly. He returned it deep into Billings’ territory and gave the Storm another short field.
The third cost them at least one point. Late in the third quarter, Faithful came in to attempt the PAT after the Outlaws had closed the gap to 51-50. The snap was bad and while rushing his attempt, Faithful shanked it. The first time the Outlaws scored in the fourth quarter, Coach Walker opted to go for two. They missed it. In those two attempts they lost three points. Sure, it’s only three points, but they only lost by nine. Three points matter.
The Salina game this weekend will be a real measure of their improvement. They’re fortunate to have two more games this season against the Oregon Lightning. They’ll win both of those. They’ve got the Nashville Kats in Week Thirteen, they’ll need to win that one. This is just an estimate obviously, but given their record and the other variables used to factor playoff seeding, I think the Outlaws will need to win AT LEAST three of their last four to get in. That battle starts this weekend.
Let’s get deeper into the numbers from this loss:
- QB Malik Henry finished 21-30 passing for 197 yards. He threw six touchdowns and ran in one.
- The Outlaws lack of a running game gave the receivers a lot of opportunities to shine. Anthony Duffy caught ten passes on 13 targets and had one touchdown.
- Billings’ decision to sign Darius Prince continues to pay dividends. He had seven catches and four touchdowns. He’s second in the league in touchdown catches and receiving yards.
- Arthur Anderson had seven catches and two touchdowns.
- On the defensive side of the ball, Jamal Winn II had two sacks and forced one fumble.
- Devin Love had one sack.
- Kicker Dean “Old” Faithful went six for seven in PAT’s and had one deuce. He accounted for eight of Billings’ 56 points.
This is the last matchup between the Storm and the Outlaws in the regular season.
The odds that they’ll meet in the playoffs are low. The Storm will likely hold Number Two and the Outlaws will have to leapfrog the Lightning, the Tritons and the Kats to get to Number Three.
For Week Eleven, Billings will travel about 950 miles Southeast to Salina to take on the Liberty on Saturday May 24.
SW Kansas will stay home in the friendly confines of Dodge City to host the Washington Wolfpack in ViceTV’s Game of the Week on Sunday, May 25.
Lightning Torch Washington
Lightning Notch Third in a Row
Standings Ranking- Fifth
Previous Power Ranking- Sixth
NEW Power Ranking- Sixth
I’ll say this for the Lightning, they now beat who they’re supposed to beat. They have the talent to beat Washington and the New Tritons. They have done that. QB Dalton Cole had a great game. Nic Brassell was incredible on defense. Washington didn’t have anyone on defense that could even stay with Philip Harding let alone prevent him catching passes.
There are however three specific areas where the Lightning continue to struggle. These areas will be exploited by better teams moving forward, including the Kats. One, they’re undisciplined and this shows up in their penalties. Two, they struggle to take care of the ball. Cole had two turnovers on his own and actually leads the league in interceptions. Three and possibly most importantly, their Special Teams is a non-factor. Ethan Skarmas is not the worst kicker in the league, but he is certainly in the running for least consequential. This isn’t his fault. I don’t think his coaching staff has set him up for success. He’s actually listed on the Oregon roster as a fullback. Early in the season, a play-by-play man hinted that Oregon had made Skarmas the kicker so that they didn’t lose a roster spot to someone who’s JUST a kicker. It’s that type of thinking that will contribute to Oregon losing most of their remaining games.
During this three game winning streak, both Cole and Coach Chuck Jones (not the legendary animator) have been singing the praises of their offensive line. Which yes, Cole has had time and the line has been solid, but I feel I should point out they’ve beaten the two worst teams in the league. Washington is a disaster, they’ve beat them twice, and Corpus Christi was essentially a brand new team. I hate to take away credit from a team that’s winning games, but I do think they’re about to be brought back down to Earth.
They will lose to Nashville this weekend and will go on to never actually enter the Playoff frame. I don’t think they have the defense to stop the Outlaws in Week Twelve or Fourteen. There’s a world where they go one and three the rest of the way.
Let’s dwell on the positive for now and dig into these stats shall we:
- Dalton Cole went 17-27 for 220 yards and five touchdown passes. He had one rushing touchdown, one fumble and one pick.
- Wide Receiver Philip Harding put up huge numbers with seven catches for 110 yards and three touchdowns.
- Kris Lewis had four catches for 44 yards and two scores. He also had one carry for 21 yards. I’d be curious to see if they go to that again in the future.
- Maurice Ashley had five carries and one touchdown. He also had three catches for 52 yards.
- Nicolas Brassell earned Defensive Player of the Week honors with seven tackles, five pass deflections and one pick.
- Defensive Back KeAris Ardley had five tackles, forced one fumble and had one fumble recovery.
- Lovell Spruce had three tackles, one sack and recovered one fumble.
- Angelo Grose had three tackles and two pass deflections.
- Defensive Linemen Jerimiah Spicer and Mike Fields both had two tackles and a sack. Spicer had one fumble recovery.
- The aforementioned Ethan Skarmas went four for seven in PAT’s, contributing four points to Oregon’s 52.
Washington Continues Descent
Standings Ranking- Eighth
Previous Power Ranking- Eighth
NEW Power Ranking- Eighth
Boy oh boy Washington is difficult to watch right now. I can’t speak to what has happened to their offensive line but they’ve suddenly lost the ability to block. That happened to coincide with them releasing QB Ed Crouch and they just haven’t been any sort of threat since.
The Wolfpack have continued to punt the question of who is their quarterback. Dom Shoffner got the start. He played the first three series of the game for Washington in which he went one for four and then fumbled a snap. Kruse was brought in for the next series and finished the half four for six.
In his halftime interview, Coach JR Wells said they were going to continue to rotate QB’s according to who seemed to have the hot hand. This was not a successful strategy. Neither QB really seemed to be able to establish a rhythm which resulted in them throwing ZERO passing touchdowns in this game.
Like Oregon, Washington also has a Special Teams issue. I don’t understand their strategy in the kicking game. The last few games, they’ve started having kicker Manny Higuera kick it out of bounds on kickoffs to prevent the return team from having the opportunity to score a touchdown. If you have that little faith in your kickoff team’s ability to make a stop, you need to put different players on your kickoff team. They’re giving away almost half the field and it puts so much pressure on their defense who is already going to be loaded down with pressure because your offense can’t score.
A few weeks ago they started punting but not punting. I know what you’re thinking, “Lee, they can’t punt. It’s against the rules in the AF1.” You are correct. It is against the rules to punt in the AF1 and to be fair they don’t punt. They’ve just stopped really going for it on fourth down. So, what Washington does is declare that kicker Manny Higuera is going to attempt a drop kick field goal. Then their opponent will field that miss that often falls incredibly short and attempt to run it back… like a punt return. It feels like they’re skirting a fine line but it is sometimes the only way Washington’s defense gets to play without their backs against a wall.
Washington has three games left. I suspect they will lose them and at the end of the season I’ll be curious to see what happens next for this team.
One more thing I’d like to add: on May 22, it was announced in the AF1’s Transaction Report that Washington had released LD McAllister, who is without a doubt their second or third most dependable offensive weapon. He’s second on the team in receptions and receiving yards. He leads the team in touchdowns. He is a rare sliver of blue in a sky full of cloudy incompetence. That metaphor got away from me. He caught the ONLY Washington touchdown in Week Nine. Due to some injuries, in Week Ten he played both ways on a few series and caught a pick in the First Quarter, securing one of only two turnovers that the Washington defense forced. The 22nd is Thursday. So, he probably won’t be on a new roster this weekend but look for LD to be suiting up for someone else in Week 12. I don’t know if something untoward happened behind the scenes but he’d be a valuable addition to a few receiver crews.
Let’s get into these Week Ten stats:
- Tonight’s starting QB Dom Shoffner went 6-14 passing for 75 yards. He ran the ball eight times and rushed for two touchdowns. He fumbled two snaps and lost one.
- Adam Kruse was 6-12 passing for 14 yards. He ran 6 times for one touchdown and threw one pick.
- Wide Receiver Deshon Williams had five catches for 52 yards
- Aakiel Greer had three catches for 26 yards.
- Josh Meier had two catches for 18 yards.
- Linebacker Bryan Sarnowski had a terrific showing on defense. He finished with seven tackles, forced two fumbles and recovered one.
- Defensive back Ijaaz Rashid had six tackles, including one for a loss.
- The aforementioned LD McAllister had one pass deflection and the lone pick for Washington.
- Dorian Hardin had three tackles and one pass deflection
- Defensive Lineman Chei HIll had a pretty slow game for him, only notching two tackles.
- Kicker Manny Higuera went two for three in PAT’s, accounting for two of Washington’s 20 points
The crosstown rivalry between Oregon and Washington is now done for the season.
Oregon will travel to Nashville to take on the Kats on Saturday, May 24 for Week Eleven. If Oregon beats Nashville, their winning percentage will allow them to finally dip their toe into the Playoff Picture.
Washington will be sacrificed to the Storm in Dodge City in ViceTV’s Game of the Week on Sunday.
All eight AF1 teams will be in action in Week Eleven. As we’re getting close to the end of the season, each game carries some playoff implications. Can the Kats stiff arm Oregon’s playoff push? Can the Tritons avenge the biggest loss in the AF1’s brief history? Can Salina continue their late season ascent and humble the Outlaws? And exactly how far into the first quarter will ViceTV regret their decision to have Washington in the Game of the Week?
Find out this weekend on Arena Football One.
