Since August 30, there’s been no team hotter than South Georgia Tormenta FC.

That was the night when the 2022 League One title-winners – at that point below the playoff line with only five wins in the regular season – swept to a 4-0 victory at home against Forward Madison FC.

It proved the launching point for what’s occurred since. Tormenta took 25 of a possible 27 points over its final nine games, scoring 26 goals and allowing only seven to sweep back into the postseason.

Tormenta’s run even put it in with a chance to host a playoff game, although that was denied by results elsewhere on the final day of the regular season. Still, what’s happened since Head Coach Mark McKeever took the helm on August 11 has been undeniable, with Saturday’s 3-0 victory against Texoma FC to close the regular season another example of South Georgia’s explosiveness.

“We approached the game talking about habits and continue to show the identity that we’ve created,” McKeever told the Statesboro Herald’s Luke Martin. “And so, the habits bleed into the culture, the culture that bleeds into high performance in training, and then that, obviously, bleed into performance on the field and in the game and good performances lead to good results. So that’s what happened tonight.”

Even with that run, Tormenta will likely be an underdog as it heads to Spokane Velocity FC this weekend to open the League One Playoffs. By the numbers, even with last Tuesday’s defeat in Portland, last year’s League One Finalists have been among the most formidable sides in the league this season.

But if there was ever a team ready to make an underdog run, Tormenta looks like one that’s going to be primed to spring another surprise.

“They’re one of the most talented squads in the USL League One,” said McKeever. “They’re probably one of the favorites to go and win it, but I feel as though we can match up very well against them.”

Here are this week’s rankings.