Black Diamonds come up short against No. 2 Poteau Pirates

There are victories and moral victories, and the Sallisaw Black Diamonds definitely got one of the latter in Thursday night’s District 4A-4 showdown against Class 4A’s second-ranked Poteau Pirates at Perry F. Lattimore Stadium.

The Black Diamonds held the Pirates to 28 points, which is the second lowest point total for Poteau this season — the lowest were back-to-back 24-point outings in their first two games of the season (a 24-21 win over Tulsa Bishop Kelley and a 24-7 victory over Tulsa Metro Christian).

Unfortunately, while the Black Diamonds played well enough to get an actual victory, their effort fell short in a 28-13 loss to the Pirates.

“I thought our kids rose to the occasion,” Sallisaw coach Brandon Tyler said. “Our kids fought all night long. I’m proud of our effort.”

The Pirates (8-0 overall, 5-0 in district play) never trailed, but they were never allowed to run away from the Black Diamonds — thanks to Sallisaw’s defense.

After the Black Diamonds (5-3, 3-2), who saw their three-game winning streak snapped, could not successful sustain the game’s opening possession, the Pirates drove down field and scored on a seven-yard touchdown run by Jackson Sommers with 5:17 left in the first quarter. Ethan McBee’s extra point put Poteau ahead 7-0 after the first 12 minutes.

Despite being aided by a roughing the passer penalty on Poteau, the next Sallisaw drive also ended with a punt.

The Pirates took the ensuing possession to paydirt, as Spencer Perry took it in from 27 yards out. McBee’s PAT increased Poteau’s lead to 14-0 with 9:20 left before halftime.

After Poteau stopped Sallisaw once more, the Pirates took over. Aided by a roughing the passer infraction on Sallisaw, the Pirates marched down field and scored on a 19-yard TD run by University of Tulsa commit Dax Collins. McBee’s extra point upped Poteau’s advantage to 21-0 with 4:30 remaining in the first half.

Things almost looked bleak for the Black Diamonds as McBee’s kickoff bounced inside the Sallisaw 5 and seemed destined for the end zone for a touchback. But it took a strange hop and remaining in the field of play. Kenyon Hill fielded the punt at the goal line and returned it to the Sallisaw 12. However, Poteau was called for a personal foul face mask penalty, which moved the ball to the SHS 27.

It was at this point the Sallisaw offense finally made dents in Poteau’s defense. After two long runs by quarterback Brock Streun of 27 and 16 yards, the Black Diamonds moved into Poteau territory. The Black Diamonds used some trickery as Max Stump threw a halfback pass to Cole Mayfield for 29 yards to set up Sallisaw with a first-and-goal at the Poteau 4. Streun scored two plays later on a one-yard sneak with 1:28 left before halftime. However, Brian Castor’s PAT hit the left upright, keeping Sallisaw down 21-6 at halftime.

“We had some momentum going into halftime,” Tyler said.

The Pirates got the second-half kickoff, which was a pooch attempt, taken by Perry who returned it to the Sallisaw 45. However, an illegal block in the back penalty moved the starting point of the drive back to the Poteau 26. For the first time, the Pirates had to end a drive with a punt by McBee. The Black Diamonds started their first second-half possession at their own 36 with 10:25 left in the third quarter.

Despite two holding penalties, the Black Diamonds were driving. After getting into the red zone, Streun tried to hit Braxton Lamb in the near right corner of the end zone. However, the pass acted like a jump ball in basketball, which ultimately was won by Holden Mattox at the Sallisaw 1 with 5:52 left in the period.

However, the Sallisaw defense rose to the occasion and forced a Poteau punt once more.

This time, the Black Diamond were not going to be denied the end zone as Broque Oft caught a pass over the middle from Jackson Harris. Oft went the final 20 yards into the end zone to cut the deficit to 21-12.

Sallisaw went for two points and appeared to have gotten them on a pass from Streun to Lamb, only to be called for illegal formation. So, after being moved back five yards, the Black Diamonds settled for the conventional extra point by Castor to cut the Poteau lead to 21-13 with 3:17 left in the period.

However, the Pirates responded with another scoring drive that only took 72 seconds off the clock as Mattox scored on a 51-yard TD run with 2:05 remaining in the quarter. McBee’s PAT gave Poteau a 28-13 lead after three quarters.

Sallisaw’s first possession of the final period started with 9:16 left to play, but the drive ended abruptly as Poteau defender Rylan Waddell picked off a deflected pass at the PHS 30 and brought it 10 yards to the Poteau 40. However, the Poteau drive was once again stopped by Sallisaw, giving the ensuing possession to the Black Diamonds.

Thanks to two pass plays by Harris — one to Mayfield and the other to Cooper Cox — the Black Diamonds once more drove into the red zone.

Unfortunately, for the second time in the game, the Pirates thwarted the Black Diamonds as Mattox picked off Harris at the Poteau 1 with 3:04 remaining in the game. The Pirates kept the ball the rest of the way, and won going away.

“We throw two interceptions at the goal line,” Tyler said. “We had opportunities We came back out in the second half and got after it.”

Now, the Black Diamonds are set on the goal of securing a playoff berth for the first time in four seasons. If they win out, they will do no worse than third place and travel to the District 4A-3 runner-up, which going into Week 8 games, was a tie between Cushing and Oologah as of Thursday night.

“I’m proud of those guys,” Tyler said. “They’re hurting right now, but our goal is still there. Our goal right now is to finish 7-3 and make the playoffs. That’s a lot better than what anyone anticipated this program being at right now. I’m proud of these kids and their effort. We’ll come back to work Monday and get ready for Fort Gibson (which visits Perry F. Lattimore Stadium next Friday for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Senior Night).”