The Sioux Falls Storm entered Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa, Saturday night, looking for redemption following a devastating loss on June 1st against their inter-division rivals, the Iowa Barnstormers.

The 3-11 Storm's lone previous matchup against this Iowa team really encapsulated the struggles of the season. Their 2-point loss against the Barnstormers in early June has been a familiar sight for the Storm, which lost seven of their 14 games with less than one score. They were playing a 4-10 Barnstormers team that had similarly lost nine of their 14 games by less than one score; it was clear that both of these teams were looking for moral victories to get the bad taste of their unlucky seasons out of their mouths.

It was not where either team wanted to be at this point in the season, but the energy that filled the arena was still electric, and it was clear early on that despite their records, both teams were playing with a playoff-type of aggression. There was no love lost between these teams, and it was obvious that this rivalry was very much alive on Saturday night.

The playoff-type energy was most exemplified by the Barnstormers early on, as they played ferocious defense and electric offense right from the start. Holding the Storm from converting a single first down in the whole first quarter energized the crowd for their final home game of the season and they continued to put on an exciting show for their home faithful.

Storm Kicker Dean Sarris continued his impressive late-season performance following a five-field goal game last week, and he nailed a long 42-yard shock kick on the Storm's opening possession after three-and-out left him with a long field, but he sent it straight down the uprights for an early score.

That Sarris field goal represented the only score for the Storm over the first 29 minutes, as the pumped-up Barnstormer's defense bullied the Sioux Falls Offense for much of the first half. Iowa forced the Storm to three three-and-outs and one interception on a botched play that rookie QB Jiya Wright tried and failed to salvage with an ill-advised pass-turned-interception in the second quarter.

The Barnstormers scored a touchdown, a field goal, and hit a deuce in the first quarter to take a 12-3 lead into the second. The Barnstormers then grew their lead with two touchdown passes from Brandon Alt to Keshaun Taylor and ended up scoring 26 unanswered points in the first half.

Jiya Wright ran for a late half 30 yard TD to stop the bleeding a little for the Storm in the first half, but it was already clear that this game was not going to be a fun one for the Storm defense.

The Barnstormers went into halftime with a 29-10 lead against Sioux Falls and quickly extended that lead to begin the second half with a big man TD by offensive linemen, Joel Bastane. This was one of many touchdowns for the Barnstormers in a game in which they picked apart a Storm defense which were consistently one step behind an energized and electric Barnstormers offense.

Luckily for the Storm, their own offense also picked up the pace and played incredibly in the second half and was able to avoid an embarrassing blowout that seemed inevitable after they fell to a 38-10 deficit right after halftime.

Jiya Wright scored a touchdown on all six of the Storm's second-half possessions and helped the Storm score 54 points on the day, with 44 of those points coming in the second.

Unfortunately for the Storm, they were never able to consistently get stops on defense, with their only second-half stop coming on a blocked field goal by Dajon Emory that went out of the back of the endzone for a safety.

At the end of the day, The Storm were able to cut their 29 point deficit to just 11 points, but were unable to close the gap further. They fell 65-54 to the Barnstormers in what became one of the highest scoring games of the season.

Both quarterbacks were incredible, with Jiya Wright scoring seven touchdowns (five passing and two rushing) on 271 total yards (191 passing yards on 12 completions and 28 attempts and 80 rushing on ten rushes).

Brandon Alt did most of his work through the air for Iowa, going 14-29 for six total touchdowns and 190 yards passing. Alt barely beat Wright in passing efficiency, putting up a QBR of 171.6 compared to Jiya Wright's QBR of 151.9. Alt only got three receivers involved: Quian Williams caught seven passes for 95 yards and three touchdowns, Ezekiel Lang caught four passes for 56 yards and one touchdown, and Keshaun Taylor caught three passes for 39 yards and two touchdowns.

Jiya Wright spread the ball around a lot as the Storm got quite a bit of help offensively, with Kentrez Bell leading all Storm receivers with 65 yards on three catches and two TDs. New receiver RaJae Johnson-Sanders also caught three passes for 34 yards. Three other players caught two passes, including Draysean Hudson, who totaled 52 yards and whose catches were both touchdowns; Keshaun Williams, who earned 26 yards and one touchdown; and Lorenzo Thompson, whose two catches totaled 14 yards combined.

Keshaun Williams also ran for 21 yards on five carries, which led all running backs in a game that was almost exclusively pass plays and QB options.

On defense, the Storm couldn't get much going as a team, but they had a couple of impressive individual efforts, including Elijah Reed, who led the team in tackles with eight, and Dajon Emory, who got two Tackles for loss and one crucial blocked kick that represented the best defensive moment in the game for a Storm team that focused largely on offense this week.

The Barnstormers also had a disappointing game on that side of the ball but played well in the first half, with their best moment coming in the form of a J'Von France interception.

The Storm will return home next weekend to host the playoff bound Green Bay Blizzard in the final regular season game of the year. The July 20th contest will be Alumni Night, presented by the Orthopedic Institute and Sioux Falls Specialty Hospital. Former Storm players and legends will return to the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center to help celebrate the Hall of Fame induction of former Storm Defensive Coordinator Brian Hermanson. The Festivities get underway at 6:00 PM CT and will feature a special Hall of Fame Ceremony at halftime.