Black Diamonds senior duo glad to return to winning ways

The Sallisaw Black Diamonds returned to their winning ways last Friday night with a District 4A-4 road victory over Tulsa McLain after losing their homecoming game to Broken Bow the week prior. The win over the Titans had a much better feeling than the loss to Broken Bow.

“It felt pretty good,” Sallisaw senior punter Creed Nelson said. “We had more discipline out there as a team (than the week before against Broken Bow).”

Senior wide receiver Caleb Hightower believed the Black Diamonds were in a stronger frame of mind for the Tulsa McLain game than perhaps they were for the Broken Bow game.

“I felt like our preparation was a lot better for (Tulsa) McLain than it was for Broken Bow,” Hightower said. “We came out slow against Broken Bow. We’ve had a lot of slow starts, and we’re just waiting to put together that complete game. Once we do, we’ll be unstoppable.”

Hightower, and even Sallisaw coach Brandon Tyler, believes perhaps the Black Diamonds haven’t played a full complete game since the season opener against Pryor. Hightower believes the team is just about ready to have another full complete game, which he hopes takes place Thursday night at Glenpool.

“I think we played well against Pryor in all three phases (offense, defense and special teams),” Hightower said. “We’re right there. Once we put together that complete game, we’ll be really good.”

The Black Diamonds will have one less preparation day to get ready for the Warriors, since the game will be Thursday night and not the customary Friday night. Regardless, Nelson said the Black Diamonds will be ready come 7 p.m. Thursday.

“I think we’ll be just as focused as usual,” Nelson said. “We’ve been practicing hard to get ready for the game.”

Both seniors are wanting to put it all out there this year, since this will be the last time they will get to do so for the Black Diamonds on the gridiron.

“I just want to make the most of it,” Hightower said. “I’m going out there and working hard every day. I’m going to do everything I can to help my team win — and go get that state championship.”

“I don’t want it to end,” Nelson said. “It’s been pretty fun.”