London Keep the Door Shut: Warriors Beat Berlin Thunder to Stay in the Playoff Race
Berlin Thunder needed a win. The London Warriors needed a win. For four quarters, neither side blinked, until the Warriors did what road teams rarely do in a game this big: they took it. The Warriors held their nerve, controlled the clock and left the field with nothing but opening the playoff window a little more. The fourth seed currently belongs to London.
FINAL SCORE: LONDON WARRIORS AT BERLIN THUNDER – 40:29
BERLIN THUNDER WASN’T ABLE TO FIND THEIR FOOTING
Jakeb Sullivan did what he’s been doing all season: making it look easy. On Berlin’s very first drive, the quarterback needed just a handful of plays to find the end zone and put the Thunder on the board first, a reminder of why he’s been talked about as one of the league’s best arms right now. But the rest of the afternoon told a different story for Berlin’s offense. The ground game simply never showed up, with the Thunder managing only two rushing yards across the entire first half, forcing Sullivan to carry the offense almost single-handedly. London’s defense leaned into that weakness, keeping Berlin out of the end zone for long stretches. It would have been easy for the Thunder to fold when the deficit grew, but they kept swinging. Bais Kouanda punched in a 12-yard touchdown run to answer a Warriors score, and Sullivan later found Jon Cole twice in the second half – first for 12 yards, then for 20 – to keep Berlin within striking distance deep into the fourth quarter.
LONDON NOW OWN THE TIE-BREAKER
London’s own start was far from smooth. False starts derailed their opening possession and left them with only a field goal to show for it, an early sign that this wouldn’t be a clean, one-sided affair. But once the Warriors found their rhythm, they found it in a big way. Sixty rushing yards in the first quarter alone set the tone, and London grabbed the lead for good in the second, capped off just before halftime by a 29-yard strike from Kare Lyles to Ellis Roff. Berlin never really found its footing coming out of the break, and London made them pay: Andy Owusu punished the Thunder defense all game long, scoring on a 5-yard rush, then breaking loose for an 83-yard touchdown, and finally hauling in a 5-yard touchdown catch from Lyles late in the fourth to cap his three-touchdown afternoon.
A FLAG AND PENALTY-HEAVY GAME
It was a physical, flag-heavy battle on both sides, with self-inflicted field position issues and a string of injury timeouts slowing the pace throughout, but London’s explosiveness proved to be the difference. When the clock hit zero, the Warriors had held on for a 40-29 win
WHAT’S NEXT
London Warriors host the Paris Lights, who – with their win in week 11 – are also still in the playoff race. Berlin Thunder face a tough challenge: they host North/West Conference leaders Rhein Fire.
