The Sioux Falls Storm host the 2023 Home Opener presented by First PREMIER Bank & PREMIER Bank Card on Sunday April 9^th against the Iowa Barnstormers. Kickoff is set for 5:05 p.m. inside the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls, SD.
 
 The game will be streamed live on YouTube.

THE GAME
Series Overall: The Iowa Barnstormers lead the all-time series 12-9
Series in Moline: The Storm hold a 3-7 record at home against the Iowa Barnstormers
Series Notes: The Sioux Falls Storm have never won three straight games against the Iowa Barnstormers
                       
The Sioux Falls Storm faced the Iowa Barnstormers four times during the 2022 IFL season, splitting the season series 2-2. Both teams split the home and road matchups, but the Storm won the final two meetings of the season with a home win in Sioux Falls (50-47) on 4/29/22 and a road victory in Des Moines (42-34) on 6/4/22.
 
The Storm's April 29th home win over Iowa snapped a 5-game losing streak against the Barnstormers (5/15/21 - 4/16/22) which was the longest losing streak in the series history.                      

LAST WEEK VS QUAD CITY STEAMWHEELERS
Veteran quarterback Lorenzo Brown Jr. scored three rushing touchdowns and Tony Tate added two more, but a safety and several costly turnovers proved to be too much to overcome as the Storm dropped their first game of the season by the final score of 36-34.
 
Brown scored the first Storm touchdown of the season on a 1-yard dive to make it 10-6 but a blocked extra-point kept it a four-point game early on in the 2nd quarter.
 
Storm wide receiver Tony Tate scored the first of his two touchdowns moments later when he took the ensuing kickoff 52 yards down field for the first special teams score of the season.
 
The momentum started to shift Sioux Falls' way after Tate's electrifying return. He would add a 3-yard rushing touchdown just before halftime to tie the game at 20-20.
 
Sioux Falls got the ball back to start the 2nd half and took their first lead of the night on Brown's 5-yard rushing touchdown. The 26-20 lead was short-lived though, with Quad City answering moments later as Hilliard connected on a 35-yard bomb that found Rudd for his 2nd touchdown of the night.
 
A Storm safety late in the 3rd quarter gave the Steamwheelers a 29-26 lead, and Hilliard put the pressure on after connecting with Windham again, this time on a 9-yard touchdown pass that pushed the Quad City lead to double digits.
 
Brown brought the Storm back again late in the 4th quarter, scoring on a 1-yard run making it 36-32. A successful two-point conversion gave the Storm a chance at the end, but a botched Duece attempt spoiled the comeback attempt.
 
Brown finished the day with eight carries for 29 yards and three rushing touchdowns, but struggled to get the pass attack working. The veteran quarterback finished the night 6-for-20 with 53 passing yards and two interceptions.
 
Cole Thurness led the Storm in receiving yards in his IFL debut, reeling in three catches for 26 yards in the loss.
 
Linebacker James Brown paced the Storm defense with nine tackles in his first game in a Storm uniform. Brown teamed up with Jaylon Abdul-Karim for the Storms only sack of the night. Eugene Ford collected his first interception of the season in the loss.
 
STORM SIGN KICKER AHEAD OF SUNDAY'S HOME OPENER
The Sioux Falls Storm Indoor Football team have signed kicker Nick Jaworski to a contract ahead of Sunday's Home Opener.
 
Jaworski spent the 2022 season with the Green Bay Blizzard where he kicked in 46-of-51 extra point attempts. The former Mississippi State kicker also connected on 16 made field goals, which was good for 3rd in the league.
 
Jaworski was named to the Indoor Football League's All-Rookie team. He joins current Sioux Falls Storm defensive lineman Undraez Lilly and linebacker James Brown on the list.
 
During his lone season with the Blizzard, Jaworski posted three games with three made field goals, and recorded eight games with a successful field goal of 30 or more yards.
 
To make room on the roster, The Sioux Falls Storm have released kicker Austin Neufeld.


SCOUTING THE IOWA BARNSTORMERS
The Iowa Barnstormers opened the 2023 Indoor Football League season with back-to-back losses against the Vegas Knight Hawks (57-44) and the Green Bay Blizzard (44-25).
 
Sunday night will be the third straight road game for the Barnstormers who will not play their first home game until April 22nd when they host the Tulsa Oilers.

The Barnstormers announced earlier this week that their top offensive weapon and their starting quarterback Darius James-Peterson had been placed on Season Ending Injured-Reserve. James-Peterson has been a dual threat QB, going 11-for-23 in the pass attack with 162 yards through the air to go along with his 2 INT and 2 TD. On the ground, Peterson was 2nd on the team in rushing with 93 yards, averaging 6.3 yards per carry.

Iowa's star running back Antonio Wimbush was also placed on Short Term Injured-Reserved. Wimbush has been the top rushing threat, posting 4 rushing TDs to go with his 110 yards on the ground.

The Barnstormers have signed quarterback Nick Ellers and running back Ra'von Bonner to fill out the vacated roster spots.
 
Linebacker Ian McBorrough is the top defender this season for the Barnstormers, racking up 9.5 tackles over the first two games of the season.
 
WHO TO WATCH FOR THIS SEASON
The Storm defense will have several new faces on the field this season, including a pair of defense backs who saw action in NFL Training Camps. Clifton Duck was an undrafted free agent with the Chicago Bears in 2019 and Eugene Ford attended Jacksonsville Jaguars camp as an undrafted free agent prior to the 2022 season.

Linebacker James Brown joins the Sioux Falls defense this season after putting together and All-IFL campaign with the Green Bay Blizzard in 2022. Brown finished 2^nd in the league in tackles (96) and 7^th in tackles for loss (14.5).
 
Second year running back Bryson Denley will take over in the backfield after the departure of fan favorite Nate Chavious who signed a multi-year contract with the BC Lions in the Canadian Football League during the off-season.
 
Rapid City, SD native Cole Thurness will join the Storm receiving corps this season after finishing a stellar career at Chadron State. Thurness is listed as the program's all-time leader in receptions (192) and receiving touchdowns (23).


LOOKING AHEAD
The Sioux Falls Storm will continue their homestand on Sunday April 16th when the Green Bay Blizzard come to town for a 5:05 PM kickoff presented by Pharmacy Specialties and Clinic.

The Storm have won 4 of their last 5 meetings against Green Bay, and 8 out of thier last 10 overall. The Storm's last loss against the Blizzard came 6/17/22 on a last second field goal kick that went in for Green Bay (42-40).
 
Sioux Falls holds an 11-7 all-time record against Green Bay.

The Storm will play the Green Bay Blizzard three times during the 2023 IFL season, including back-to-back games in a home & road split with a home game on April 16th and a road contest in Green Bay on April 21st.

Fans can purchase tickets to the April 9^th game by calling 605-838-9009 or visiting siouxfallsstorm.com.
 
ABOUT THE SIOUX FALLS STORM
The Sioux Falls Storm are a professional indoor football team based in Sioux Falls, SD. The Storm have won 11 indoor football championships over 23 seasons and are participants in the Indoor Football league. The Denny Sanford PREMIER Center has been the home of Storm Indoor Football since construction of the site was completed prior to the 2015 season.