Sallisaw shows improvement in season opener

 

STIGLER – Firstyear Sallisaw head coach Mark Hutson seemed upbeat even though the Black Diamonds lost to Stigler on the road, 31-6, in the season opener Friday night.

To be sure, Hutson saw room for his team to improve, but seemed pleased with the measurable improvements on display. Hutson set high goals for the team during the pre-season, but for the season opener on the road, adjusting to new coaches and a new system, the players appeared to be improving.

“Offensively, we had one delay of game and one false start, which is low for the first game of the year if you watch openers,” Hutson said. “On special teams, we had a couple of holding penalties, which are part of the first game of the year.

“ Offensively, in the season opener you‚ll usually see a lot of turnovers. We did have one fumble that we lost – that was a big play that they returned for a touchdown,” Hutson said. “We didn‚t throw any interceptions. A lot of times sacks are an issue, but we only had two sacks offensively. We were able to get three sacks defensively, which was exciting.

“We didn‚t have any offensive holding penalties, which, during the early part of the year, is a common penalty. There were penalties in the opener, but nothing that stood out lopsided from our opening game that you wouldn‚t see throughout the country,” Hutson surmised in his dissection of the game.

“Defensively, we held on some fourth downs to turn over on downs and had one fumble recovery, so we were able to create that advantage in the turnover situation. And defensively we had one offsides. So, for the first game of the year, we had a normal amount of penalties, which we‚re going to work on, being more disciplined to correct those penalties.”

Although the Black Diamonds made improvements over last year‚s forgettable 1-9 season, there were times when achievements turned into disasters.

Such was the case in Sallisaw‚s big breakout play. With 10:09 left in the second quarter and Sallisaw‚s punt return squad on the gridiron, Ashton Foster received the punt and he was off to the races. Aided by some great blocks, Foster ran it back the length of the field and into the endzone.

But about 15 yards before he made it to paydirt, a confusing flag was thrown that brought the ball back. The would-be touchdown was wiped out, and Foster and Sallisaw fans were bewildered by the penalty.

When Foster realized he was running unopposed 15 yards from the endzone, he put up his hand and extended his index finger to display the No. 1 sign. Unfortunately in 2022, that‚s an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

The flag was a momentum killer, and momentum is fickle. After that call, the Black Diamonds‚ only trip into the endzone didn‚t happen until late in the third quarter.

To the Sallisaw faithful, the heavyhanded call seemed unusual, because the Panthers had received a similar call in the first quarter after a touchdown, but were able to keep the points on the scoreboard. The difference? The Panthers‚ penalty happened after they were already in the endzone.

Additionally, a new ruling from the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Athletic Association (OSSAA) has been implemented this year to curb “egregious” behavior at all middle school and high school games sanctioned by the OSSAA. According to the policy, coaches, players and spectators are included in the new two-strike rule.

The rule states that if a school is cited for two “egregious” unsportsmanlike behaviors during the same season of the same sport, “the team and/or individual will be suspended from participation in that activity for the remainder of the season.” If the second “egregious” behavior is recorded during the final game of the season, the penalty will carry over into the next year.

Scenarios that fall under the “egregious” category include constant verbal attacks on the officials, physically attacking an official, fans attacking other fans at athletic events, coaches verbally or physically berating officials, players fighting another player when shaking hands at the end of a game, and student sections using inappropriate or demeaning chants at a player, team or official during the game.

But there were still bright spots for the Black Diamonds. Sallisaw‚s special teams earned their moniker this game as they created opportunities as well as produced results.

“I would say our bright spot was our success on special teams,” Hutson said. “I thought Brock Oft did a very good job of punting for us, and we did have some big plays on kickoff returns. So I thought our special teams really did step up for a season opener and gave us some advantages.”

On the offense, quarterback Parker Jackson was 12 of 29 throwing for 113 yards, along with 12 yards on the ground and a touchdown. Foster was the leading rusher with six carries for 19 yards. Receivers Sim Kilpatrick and Cooper Jackson finished with four receptions for 38 yards and three catches for 31 yards, respectively. Freshman quarterback Jackson Harris did get a set of downs late in the game in his varsity debut.

Top tackler this outing was Dillon Miller with 16 tackles; Braxton Lamb had 6½ tackles, one for a loss, and caused a fumble. Parker Pratt added seven tackles to his career totals; Cole Stephens had six tackles and broke up two pass plays; Charlie Martin produced four tackles and one sack; Cooper Jackson recorded four tackles, two for a loss, and one sack; and Caleb Cowan posted 3½ tackles, one for a loss, and one sack.

With a bye week, the Black Diamonds are going to work on fundamentals, as well as getting their defense ready for a Sept. 9 home game versus an impressive Muldrow squad that features talented running back Trenden Collins.

“We‚re going to use the open day to work on Sallisaw first, then we‚ll start getting ready for Muldrow,” Hutson said. Kickoff for the intra-county rivalry is 7 p.m. at Perry F. Lattimore Stadium.