Senior receiver/DB glad to finally be home for a change tonight
The last time the Sallisaw Black Diamonds played a home football game was the season opener on Zero Week when they handled the Pryor Tigers 31-14 on Aug. 30 at Perry F. Lattimore Stadium.
The Black Diamonds will finally get to play their second home game of the 2024 season at 7 tonight when they entertain the Broken Bow Savages in a crucial District 4A-4 showdown at Perry F. Lattimore Stadium. One Sallisaw senior thought tonight’s home game would never get here.
“It feels like we haven’t played here in an eternity,” Sallisaw senior wide receiver/defensive back Cooper Cox said. “Being on the road for three weeks, not even counting the bye week, we haven’t been here (at Perry F. Lattimore Stadium) in over a month (since the Black Diamonds have been home). It’s going to be awesome for the town and all of us being back home and playing on the home field. Hopefully, we’ll put a full game together this week.”
Speaking about putting a full game together, Cox believes the Black Diamonds have yet to do just that. Take last week’s district opener on the road against the Hilldale Hornets. The Black Diamonds trailed 21-6 at halftime, and seemed like nothing was going their way.
“We came out super slow,” Cox said. “It didn’t seem like we were ready to play. It seemed like we were pretty locked in, but they hit us with a big kickoff return. That kind of shifted momentum a little bit.”
Then came the second half, in which the Black Diamonds rallied from a twoscore deficit and ended up winning 4034 in double overtime.
“At halftime down 21-6, none of us thought we were out of it,” Cox said. “We thought we could come back and get a win because we knew we were miles better than that team (the Hornets). We just didn’t come out and play well (in the first half). After halftime, we turned it on real quick and started playing like we play. I just feel like we need to start playing like we did in that second half for the whole game. We haven’t put a full game together yet. We’ve just been playing for like half of a game. We need to put a full game together.”
Cox said a win like that one can do wonders for the Black Diamonds.
“Being a district game, we just wanted to get out of there with a win,” he said. “Going to Hilldale, it’s tough playing up there. Wins like that, that’s what we’re here for. That’s what we live for. It was big for us and big for the program.”
Not only is tonight the first home game in more than a calendar month, it’s also homecoming. Cox said the Black Diamonds plan to make sure their focus is on the District 4A-4 showdown with the Savages and not the pregame homecoming festivities.
“We can’t let the distractions get to us,” Cox said. “We have to stay locked in on the game. Like Coach (Brandon) Tyler always says, if it wasn’t for a football game, there wouldn’t be homecoming. We can’t let homecoming distract us from the fact that we have to go play a football game. This week could be for the district title. This is a really good Broken Bow team. We have to stay dialed and locked in for these guys because they’re pretty good.”
Since this will be the final football season for Cox to don the orange and black uniform on the gridiron, all that is going through the senior’s mind is winning.
“Don’t lose — that’s all that’s going through my mind,” Cox said. “We had a great first three weeks, but we’re playing a little too close (to the opposition) than we need to be. My mind is set — we can’t lose. These district games matter more than anybody knows as far as playoffs go. Obviously, our goal is to get a home playoff game. My mindset is just don’t lose. We really need to win these games, especially this week.”
