One year after suffering a heartbreaking loss to Bishop McGuinness, Sallisaw will get another shot at the Irish on Friday night.

The Black Diamonds will host McGuinness at 7:30 p.m. in the quarterfinal round of the Class 4A playoffs at Perry F. Lattimore Stadium.

In the 2008 quarterfinals at McGuinness, Sallisaw made a dramatic rally to overcome a 26-10 deficit and took the lead in the final moments on a Matt Oberste-to-Phillip Lefler touchdown pass.

McGuinness, though, scored on a deflected 74-yard touchdown reception by Gabe Ikard to snatch the victory.

The loss has been a motivating factor for Sallisaw, which is 10-1 this year and ranked fifth in Class 4A.

“There’s a sign in our locker room that says ‘It’s not over until it’s over. Remember McGuinness.’ So that loss gave us a jump start in our offseason last year to get back to this very place,” said Sallisaw head coach Craig Benson.

“It was a great game last year. It was a tremendous match-up and one of those games where you’re never able to get the bad taste out of your mouth. Now we get them at our place, so we’re excited about that.”

McGuinness has been a force in the playoffs in recent years, winning state titles in 2006 and 2007 and falling to Glenpool in last year’s final.

The third-ranked Irish are 9-2 this season and both losses were by a single point against No. 1-ranked teams: Class 5A Bishop Kelley and Class 4A Weatherford.

Benson pointed out that McGuinness has played a tough schedule featuring seven playoff teams in 11 games. Despite that level of competition, the Irish have allowed just 11.3 points per game.

“They are a worthy opponent,” said Benson. “They are a very good football team.”

Ikard is now playing football at the University of Oklahoma and quarterback Ryan Randolph has graduated as well, but Benson said the Irish are still an excellent team.

“They may not have the talent they had a year ago, but they are every bit as good a team as they were last year,” said Benson. “They’re very unselfish. They understand what their role is and they perform it very well.”

The coach said McGuinness also has blazing team speed, likening them to district rival Wagoner.

Sophomore Camden Tharp took over at quarterback early in the season when Quinn Shanbour went down with a broken ankle. Tharp has completed 47 of 82 passes for 607 yards and leads the team in rushing with 654 yards and five touchdowns. He ran 26 yards for a score in last week’s 49-0 win over Tecumseh and also threw two TD passes.

“He is very good at running the football. He runs that option to perfection when they run it,” said Benson.

McGuinness is somewhat like Sallisaw in that it has a number of key players who have returned recently from injuries. One of those is junior running back LaRone Richardson.

“He had been out with a high ankle sprain, but came back last week against Tecumseh. He played seven or 11 snaps and didn’t get tackled,” said Benson.

Richardson has rushed for 493 yards and 10 touchdowns, including TD runs of 11 and 43 yards last week.

“They also get (Sam) Crabtree back and he’s a really good football player. He broke his collarbone in Week 5. He was a full-time starter last year and is a very good player,” said Benson

Crabtree plays receiver and defensive back and the senior has 287 receiving yards. Teammate Kyle Ahmad leads McGuinness with 20 receptions for 401 yards.

Senior tight end/linebacker Jameel Whitney and junior wide receiver/defensive back Jamal Whitney are two more standouts for the Irish. Jameel has made 101 tackles and Jamal is averaging almost 20 yards per reception.

“Jameel is one of the linebackers in their 4-3 scheme and, to me, is their best defender,” said Benson. “His little brother Jamal plays on both sides of the ball and is a very good corner and can fly.”

Benson said it’s going to take a special performance to get the win on Friday night.

“We have to have the same defensive effort that we had against Broken Bow,” said the coach.

Ball control will also be a big factor in the outcome.

“We have to control the ball and keep their offense off the field. We have to sustain drives and be very smart because they’re not going to give it to you. They haven’t laid the ball on the ground in the games we’ve seen. And when they get the ball, they like to hang on to it,” said Benson.

The winner of Friday‘s game will advance to the state semifinals and play the winner of Star Spencer and Oologah at a neutral site to be determined.

Players of the Week

Players of the Week for the 31-28 win over Collinsville were Phillip Lefler, Matt Oberste, Trey Wiley and Caleb Smith.

Lefler kicked three field goals in the second half, including the game-winning 25-yarder with :04 left.

“We always knew he was good. He was just behind a guy (Carlos Nieto) last year that was dang good too. Phillip’s been very dependable for us—he’s 8 of 11 on field goals now for the season,” said Benson.

Quarterback Oberste and receiver Wiley shared the offensive award.

Oberste returned from a shoulder injury to rush for 87 yards and two touchdowns and complete 20 of 28 passes for 265 yards and another TD.

His main target was Wiley, who matched his own school record for receptions in a game with 12 catches for 147 yards.

That allowed Wiley to surpass John Petree in the record book for most catches in a season. Wiley now has 66 and is closing in on David Hadley’s record for receiving yards. He has 788 and needs 92 more to catch Hadley.

Smith, a senior noseguard, made six tackles. One of those was for a 19-yard loss.

“He’s overcome a lot of struggles to get where he is and it‘s really great to see him persevere and overcome those adversities. He’s been really solid the last four weeks,” said Benson.

Stat Leaders

Sallisaw’s defense has been led in tackles by senior linebacker Jake Fitzsimmons with 129 stops. Dakota Petree has made 75 tackles, Hayden Spencer 58, Trevor Fitzsimmons 53, Zack Wooten 53 and Chase Hunt 41.

Spencer has a team-high 14 sacks and Trevor Fitzsimmons has 13. Lefler has intercepted six passes.

On offense, Oberste has piled up over 2,200 total yards. The senior has rushed 146 times for 947 yards and 12 touchdowns and passed for 1,758 yards and 16 TDs.

Jeromy Davenport has rushed for 880 yards and 15 TDs on 187 carries.

Wiley leads the receivers with 66 catches for 788 yards and six TDs. Andrew Miller is next with 20 receptions for 229 yards. Hunt has caught 16 passes for 231 yards and Aaron Fullbright (205 yards), Russell Kennedy (184) and Davenport (109) are also among the team leaders.

On special teams, Lefler has now kicked 26 extra points and eight field goals. Punter Martin Wigg is averaging 31.6 yards per kick.