Storm brewing: Red Storm ready for second season of semi-pro football

One of the best memories of Austin Lakatos' football career came at Navarre Field.

Lakatos played four years at Airport before graduating in 2020. His senior year, the Jets were leading 14-0 in an away game at Navarre against St. Mary Catholic Central when the Falcons scored a late first-half touchdown to make it 14-6.

The extra-point kick was blocked by Lakatos.

"That was probably my favorite moment in high school, blocking that extra point," Lakatos said. "I was pretty active and had a few sacks my senior year, but when I got the chance to block the kick, that was a highlight for me. It's a momentum changer."

Now two years removed from graduation, Lakatos will have the chance to make some new memories at Navarre.

The Southeast Michigan Red Storm begins its second season of semi-pro football this year with a season-opening home match up against the Glass City Tigers at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Navarre Field.

Lakatos is one of several new players for the Storm.

"I've definitely missed football," he said. "I definitely didn't expect to be playing this year, but the opportunity was right in my lap and I couldn't let it pass me by. It was a sign I had to put the pads back on."

Those pads have not seen much action in recent years.

Without a college offer after graduation, Lakatos entered the workforce and left football in his past. He landed a job at the Meijer Distribution Center last year where he met Corey Green, who had just started playing semi-pro football for the Red Storm.

The two bonded over their love of the game and Green invited Lakatos to join the Red Storm.

With the Storm already midway through its inaugural season, Lakatos was hesitant to jump into the fray despite his desire to get back on the field.

"They had their thing going already and I didn't want to just jump in there," Lakatos said. "I wanted to do it the right way, join at the end of the season and go through all the conditioning and off-season work with the guys."

Lakatos did, however, accepted an invitation from Green to come to one of the Storm's home games.

Having never been to a semi-pro football game before, Lakatos didn't know what to expect. Despite a 42-0 shellacking by the Detroit Ravens – the No. 1 team in the Midwest Elite Football Alliance – Lakatos was hooked.

"I was just excited to watch some football," he said. "Then I was watching them play and I was just missing it. I sat there reminiscing the whole game. It was definitely a good game."

The loss to the Ravens was the Storm's seventh straight to start the season, but the summer turned around from there. The Storm finished 3-8 overall, including dominant victories over the Calhoun County Panthers and the Lansing Crusaders down the final stretch of the season.

"I felt pretty good for our first year," said head coach Taylor Bates, who is back for his second year. "I think we improved a lot. ... Last year was just a beginning and at the end, everything came together. We have almost everybody back from last year."

One of those returning is quarterback Mike Tucker. He joined the team midway through the season and helped the Storm both as a running back and a signal caller. Bates expects Tucker to provide some stability to a position that saw very little of it throughout the first season.

"It was really difficult," Bates said. "Quarterback is the leader of the offense and if you don't have a leader, it's hard to get the offense clicking. ... (Tucker) is a leader."

The Storm's late-season improvements let to better attitudes, Bates said.

"Toward the end of the season last year, we started gelling more as a team," he said. "I believe that will carry on to this year. The difference is we're more together now. We're more a 'team' than an 'I' and everybody is on the same page. Everybody is more hungry this year."

Lakatos was thrilled to learn that "brotherhood" was more than just a buzzword for the Storm.

The returning players on the team have made the transition back into football a smooth experience for Lakatos.

"Honestly, I was worried," Lakatos said. "I took that year off and I didn't know how it would feel going into conditioning. But after the first or second conditioning, it just felt like I was doing what I love again. It just felt right.

"I love it. Besides my family, I don't think there's much more I love on this planet than football. It's a stress reliever. After a long day of work, you think you'd go to practice and be tired, but I'm ready to go."

Practices have been intense and focused.

"It's definitely next level," Lakatos said.

Part of that is how last season ended for the Storm.

The Flint Fury scored a last-second touchdown to slip away with a 28-22 victory.

That final moment of the season is one of the most defining moments for Bates.

"When I saw how we played that game, I knew we were going to have a good season this year," Bates said. "The way everybody gelled together and played together as a team. They didn't give up. Every game we played last year they didn't give up, but there was something special about that game.

"It was hard that we lost, but it was good to know what we fought to the end. That's the main thing. We didn't give up and we fought, and that momentum is carried on to this season."

Lakatos feels that momentum too and is excited to be a part of it this season.

"I'm speechless that I have this opportunity to get back on the field. I'm speechless and I'm grateful," he said. "I get to play the sport I love the most again and have an opportunity to lengthen my football career. I thought it was over. I really did. After I didn't get the college looks I wanted, I thought it was over. But here we are. I'm about to give it another go for the next few years."

Saturday's game is one of two non-league contests to start the year for the Storm along with a league crossover with the Wayne County Badgers on May 14 at Warren Fitzgerald High School.

The Storm come home for the league opener May 21 against the Detroit Ravens. Other home games this season are June 11 against the West Michigan Patriots, June 18 against the Michigan Gators, July 23 against the Detroit Seminoles, and July 30 against the Kalamazoo Titans.

All home games kickoff at 6:30 p.m. at Navarre Field.

Ben Sikora returns as the team's offensive coordinator, while Derek Finger takes over as defensive coordinator. Rich Reno (assistant offensive coordinator), Mike Jimenez (assistant defensive coordinator), Jamie Fletcher (special teams), and Kayla Plaunt (physical therapist) make up the rest of the staff.

For more information on the team this season, visit www.semiredstorm.com.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Storm brewing: Red Storm ready for second season of semi-pro football