The Sioux Falls Storm went to Frisco for a late-season battle with the Fighters Saturday night. With the 3-8 Storm near the bottom of the standings in the Eastern Conference after a devastating loss to the Tulsa Oilers, The Storm desperately needed to leave Texas with a win in order to keep their playoff hopes alive.
 
The 9-3 Fighters were looking for a win to officially clinch a playoff berth and fight for the first seed in the Eastern Conference, which is currently being held by the Green Bay Blizzard. This game also served as a bit of a revenge game for the Fighters, as the Storm were the team that knocked them out in the Eastern Conference Finals last season.
 
The Storm set the tone early for the first half as they elected to defer on the opening kickoff. The Storm defense was ready for the Fighter's great run game and didn't let them get anything going early, forcing a turnover on downs on the first drive.
 
Following a Storm field goal and a Fighters rushing TD by reigning MVP T.J. Edwards, the teams then traded interceptions, starting with an Ethan Caselberry Pick to put the Fighters into the red zone and then a Kendricks Gladney Jr. interception in the endzone that gave the Storm back the ball right before the end of the first quarter.
 
The Storm entered the second quarter trailing 3-7 to the Fighters, and then something clicked offensively as the Storm scored touchdowns on three straight offensive possessions, keeping up with the Fighters as they also had a big second quarter with two touchdowns.
 
It was the third of the Storm's three Touchdowns of the second quarter that had the most intrigue as Lorenzo Brown dove towards the endzone on fourth down, trying to take the lead with less than a minute left in the half. He did not make it into the endzone, but there were questions surrounding whether he had gotten the first down. Frisco challenged the call on the field, but it stood, and the Storm were awarded the first down and quickly capitalized with a TD run by Keshaun Williams.
 
The Fighters tried a last-second drive at the end of the half, but it was quickly spoiled by a forced fumble created by Elijah Reed.
 
The Storm got the ball with literal seconds on the clock left in the half after the fumble and initially failed to score, and went into the locker after an incomplete pass seemingly ended their drive, but a late challenge call by Peyton Riggs on a potential Frico penalty brought both teams back out onto the field, and the Storm were given one more untimed down in the half.
 
Dean Sarris walked onto the field and booted a 48-yard field goal to give the Storm a six-point lead going into the half. A quick Rushing touchdown by Lorenzo Brown Jr. to start the second half gave the Storm a 34-21 lead on the Fighters with the majority of the second half left to play.
 
The Storm had played great football up until that point and looked poised to get a surprise win against a dominant opponent, but this game took a drastic shift soon after the beginning of the third quarter and became a classic tale of two halves.
 
A T.J. Edwards touchdown was followed by a missed field goal by the Storm, and the Fighters quickly followed that up by tying the game up with another rushing touchdown, this time by running back Marquez "Meatball" Carter.
 
The game was tied 34-34 to start the 4th quarter, but the momentum was entirely in the Fighter's column. Defensive back Tyrell Pearson picked the ball off not once, not twice, but three straight times on consecutive Storm drives to start the third quarter, and the Fighters followed each interception up with a touchdown, including a 45-yard back-breaking TD run by T.J. Edwards that marked the beginning of the end for the Storm.
 
The Fighters took a 55-34 lead on the Storm, prompting Sioux Falls to take Lorenzo Brown Jr. out of the game and turn to rookie QB Jiya Wright out of the University of Louisiana Monroe. Jiya did get a last-second touchdown run that turned the final score into a more respectable 55-40 loss for the Storm.
 
It was a disappointing second half that completely rewrote the game in favor of the Frisco Fighters, but the Storm should be proud of their excellent first-half performance and use that to build a solid finish to this season.
 
Statistically, it was a bit of a disappointing performance for Lorenzo Brown, who went 14 for 23 on pass attempts and gained 119 yards and two touchdowns but also threw three interceptions, which pushes his total up to ten on the season.
 
On the other side of the spectrum, T.J. Edwards went 10 for 12 and threw for 137 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. Edwards also led all players in this game with 104 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
 
As usual, the Fighters dominated the run game offensively, totaling 176 yards on 37 attempts between Edwards, Carter, and Rankin.
 
Rushing was a bit of an afterthought for the Storm tonight, as nobody ran for more than 25 yards. Keshaun Williams was everywhere in this game and had 68 total yards on 18 touches, but most of it was through the air. He had 12 rushes for just 20 yards and a score on the ground; Lorenzo Brown had four rushes for 24 yards, Draysean Hudson had one single 20-yard rush, and Jiya Wright had a single 11-yard rush for a touchdown.
 
Keshuan Williams led all Storm receivers with six receptions for 48 yards, followed by Carlos Thompson with four for 40 yards, and Kentrez Bell with three for 22 yards and a touchdown. Lorenzo Thompson had one reception for ten yards, and Draysean Hudson also had one reception for six yards and a touchdown.
 
The Storm's receivers were all overshadowed by McClurge and Blackman for the Fighters, who combined for 106 yards on just six catches and a touchdown.
 
Defensively, both Amin Black and Elijah Reed broke double-digit tackles, and each recorded ten. Black added a sack and a TFL to his ten tackles, and Elijah Reed added a forced fumble and a TFL to his ten tackles. Kendricks Gladney also had a great game as he recorded nine tackles, one interception, and a TFL, which added to his impressive stat line this season. Claude Davis also continued to dominate this season, recording six tackles and a tackle for loss in this one.
 
On defense for the Fighters, it was all about Tyrell Pearson, whose three interceptions led the way to a second-half come-from-behind win for Frisco. Pearson's heroics likely won the game single-handedly for the Fighters, and he should easily win Defensive Player of the Week.
 
With Pearson's play handing the loss to the Storm on Saturday night, Their playoff chances are now slim to none, depending on the results from other games around the league. The Storm would need to run the table to end the regular season and hope that other games fall in the right direction in order to clinch a playoff berth.
 
The first step in that plan would be to win next week as the Jacksonville Sharks come to town on June 29th.