The Oklahoma Rage women's tackle football team prepares for national title

It's mid-July, and we're still several weeks away from high school and college football teams opening fall camp.

But there's one team out on the field now, grinding out practices in the summer heat...the Oklahoma Rage, a women's tackle football team.

"The motto is the work's not done yet, still gotta stack days is what we like to say around here," says head coach Brandon Webb.

In just its third year, the Rage completed a perfect regular season and will play for a national title on July 25th, in Canton, Ohio.

"It's not a surprise. Work wins is what we say," Webb says. "We had pieces and just added some more, and it's everybody just continuing to get better, and want to get better."

"We've put in blood, sweat and tears day in and day out doing this. And it's huge. And we've worked really hard to get here," adds linebacker/left guard Shannon Mohr.

The women play for the love of the game. And balancing work, motherhood and life....the team has become family.

"We look forward to coming to practice and we share personal struggles, and life struggles, and are a shoulder to lean on," says Mohr. "To be that close-knit and to work so hard, that's what makes it so special is because we're not just doing this with our teammates, we're doing this with our sisters."

"That's what gets us to where we're at. The family and relying on each other, and having each other's back and supporting off the field has made us become one team on the field to get us to the success that we are at today," says running back Shavonna Rucker.

The Rage will be the first Tulsa-based women's football team to play for a national title, and the players are embracing their trailblazing work.

"It's become, especially this season, it's become a culture for us. It's become the front line, the frontier of everyday practice," says Rucker.

Shannon Mohr is a first-grade teacher, and she says the game is about more than wins and losses; it's about inspiring the future.

"I've had students out here, and I've had moms text me afterwards saying, 'My daughter never knew that girls could play football.' That could almost bring me to tears because we are actually making a change, and we are showing girls that it's possible."

As the Rage prepares to take on the Richmond Black Widows for the WFA Division Three National title, head coach Brandon Webb wants to see his team rewarded for all the hard work.

"The win I want for this team. This is what they grinded for. This is what they want. This is what motivates them. You want all that work that you put in to have a nice bow on it, a cherry on top."