Sluggish Thunder hold off Road Warriors

Southaven,MS. - The 2016 National Champions Oklahoma Thunder survive a road win in the Impact West Divisional matchup, against the upstart Mississippi Road Warriors.

# 7 Ethan Sharpe 40 yard touchdown pass to Jaylind Brothers in the first quarter with Jerry Mathis adding a fumble recovery for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter as No. 1 Oklahoma held off Mississippi 14-8 on Saturday.

Rashid Lowe stated, "I feel really good that our guys found a way to win,we couldn't really get any drives going,'' he said.''To win championships, you've got to make big plays,'' Coach Lowe also stated, guys will have to compete as the Thunder continue to add players to their roster.

Oklahoma Thunder (2-0, 1-0 Impact West Division ) came up with two fumbles one being the game winner by Jerry Mathis fumble recovery for a touchdown. Mathis also had an interception. Brandon Shepard had a strip fumble recovery that also ended a drive for the Road Warriors and the defense had three sacks on a day where the Thunder offense otherwise struggled against one of the league's newest expansion teams.

Oklahoma had chances to have a bigger cushion, but David Goodson had two blocked field goals.

The Thunder trailed 8-7 after Ronnie Singleton scored on a 1-yard touchdown run, and Road Warriors completed the 2-point  conversion as the third quarter expired. 

The Road Warriors (1-1, 0-1) had a final chance to win the game until their running back fumbled that's when #25 Jerry Mathis scooped and scored with 1:54 seconds left sealing the Thunder win.

''It's beyond me how you fumble the ball on a game winning drive at the end of the game,'' Road Warriors Head Coach Rodgers said. This group is playing to win, We're not satisfied with moral victories. There are no moral victories in football. This team is growing up and playing extremely hard.''

UP NEXT

Oklahoma: The Thunder return home June 3 to host Lee County TiCats, which they are virtually unstoppable at home.

Road Warriors: Mississippi are back at home June 3 hosting the Arkansas Nightmare looking for their first home win.

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