Late Stigler score dooms Sallisaw in home opener

With 7:24 left in the game, it sure felt like the Sallisaw Black Diamonds were going to snap their 16-game losing streak and take the season opener against the Stigler Panthers on Friday night at Perry F. Lattimore Stadium.

The Black Diamonds took their first lead since the first quarter as Brock Streun’s fourth touchdown of the game capped a 28-0 scoring streak which saw Sallisaw go from a 27-6 deficit to a 34-27 lead.

However, it was not to be as the Panthers scored with 2:06 remaining to play, then scored the two-point conversion to take a 35-34 lead. Then, Stigler’s defense stopped the Black Diamonds on downs at the Sallisaw 38 with 38 seconds left to preserve the win to spoil not only the season opener for Sallisaw, but the beginning of the Brandon Tyler era.

The loss extended the losing streak to 17 games for the Black Diamonds (0-1), who have not won since a 34-12 District 4A-4 win on Set. 24, 2021.

“I was proud of our kids coming out after halftime,” Tyler said. “We challenged them in the locker room, and they came out and responded.”

After Sallisaw starting quarterback Jackson Harris left the game with an injury and did not return, Streun took over the offense, and more like took over the game.

The senior No. 2 QB rushed for four touchdowns, two in each of the third and fourth quarters, to spark a Sallisaw comeback.

“Brock is pretty dang good running it,” Tyler said. “I thought he did a good job when Jackson got hurt,” Tyler said.

After the Panthers (1-0) took the second-half kickoff and scored on a 14-yard touchdown pass with 10:32 left in the third quarter to make the score 27-6 in Stigler’s favor, the Black Diamonds started the comeback on the ensuing possession as Streun took it in from two yards out. Brian Castor kicked the extra point to cut the Sallisaw deficit to 27-13.

The Panthers were stopped on downs on their next drive at the Stigler 49. On the very next play, Streun hit Cooper Cox on a 39-yard pass play to get the ball to the Stigler 10. Two plays later, Streun scored his second TD on a 6-yard run with 2:06 remaining in the period. Castor’s PAT cut Stigler’s lead to 27-20 going into the final quarter.

The Panthers looked as if they were about to score when Sallisaw defender Cole Stephens recovered a fumble at the Sallisaw 15 with 45 seconds left in the third quarter.

That drive was cashed in by Sallisaw on the feet of Streun once more as he hit paydirt from 25 yards out. Castor’s extra point knotted the game at 27-all with 10:02 left to play.

After the Panthers were stopped on third down on their next drive, their punter had his punt tipped by Cole Mayfield. The wounded duck was recovered by Sallisaw at the Stigler 30 with 8:26 left in the game.

Stern capped that drive off with a 19yard TD run to give Sallisaw the lead back. Castor’s PAT put Sallisaw ahead 34-27 with 7:24 left to play.

“We did what we had to do to get the lead,” Tyler said. “We just couldn’t get the stop and get off the field when we needed to. Hats off to Stigler. We had the ball with two minutes to go and a chance to win the ball game, and we couldn’t convert.”

The game started as well as it could have as Sallisaw took the opening kickoff and cashed in for a touchdown as Stephens scored on a 6-yard run. However, Castor missed the extra point, keeping Sallisaw ahead 6-0.

The Panthers scored not only on their first drive of the game, but on the next scoring drive that was set up by a Sallisaw fumble that Stigler recovered at the Sallisaw 29 with 4:34 left in the opening quarter. Stigler led 13-6 after a period.

The Black Diamonds tried a field goal with 8:57 left in the first half, but Castor’s attempt failed. The Panthers took the ball and went down the field and scored with 4:14 left before halftime to take a 19-6 lead as the PAT failed.

The Panthers appeared to be taking an even bigger halftime lead, but Sallisaw defender Max Sparks picked off a pass at the Sallisaw 8 and went to the 15-yard line to keep Stigler off the board.

On the second play of the drive, Harris suffered an injury and never returned. Stigler led 19-6 at the break.

“We had a lot of mental breakdowns in the first half,” Tyler said. “We just couldn’t get it going. We dug ourselves a hole in the first half, and we had to battle from behind in the second half. I’m very proud of this group. They came out and gave it all they had tonight. We just couldn’t get things going defensively.

On the first drive of the second half, the Panthers went down the field to score and added the two-point conversion for a 27-6 lead with 10:32 left in the third quarter.

Tyler was quick to mention some “silver-lining moments in the clouds.”

“I thought our effort was good in the second half,” he said. “I thought our first opening drive was great. We ran it down their throats. We took it down the field, and we put points on the board on our first possession. That’s what we wanted to do. I’m proud of the effort, and we have two weeks to get ready for Muldrow.”

Another positive thing to take away from the disheartening loss is the Black Diamonds had 430 yards of offense, their most since 2021. Streun accounted for 342 yards of that total — 161 yards passing and 181 rushing.

Before being injured, Harris threw for 34 yards and rushed for 28 more for a total of 62 yards of offense.

Stephens led the way defensively with nine tackles, one for loss, and a fumble recovery, while Mayfield had six tackles and a punt block.

After enjoying a bye week this week, the Black Diamonds will return to action with a 7 p.m. Sept. 8 road game against the Muldrow Bulldogs at Marty Rogers Field.

Editor’s Note: Check out the inaugural Gridiron Notes Column in Friday’s edition with Week 1 area statistical highlights.