Black Diamonds senior football duo wants to knock off Poteau
The Sallisaw Black Diamonds almost did something last year that hadn’t been done in a while, knock off the archrival Poteau Pirates.
Two senior players hope that happens tonight when the two teams meet at 7 p.m. at Perry F. Lattimore Stadium.
“I’m really anxious,” Sallisaw senior offensive lineman Zyler Rogers said. “I want to knock them off so bad. I’ve wanted to beat them all of high school, all of middle school. I don’t like them. It will be a great win.”
“It would mean a lot to me,” Sallisaw senior running back/defensive back Broque Oft said. “Ever since I started playing football, I’ve never beat Poteau. I just have one more chance at it. I’m hoping for the best.”
After losing their homecoming game to Broken Bow, the Black Diamonds have won two straight games — beating Tulsa McLain and Glenpool, both on the road. Rogers believes the Black Diamonds are returning to form, and at the right time.
“I say we’re back on track,” Rogers said. “Especially in this conference (District 4A-4), we have to have everything play out just right for us to win the conference (district) championship. It feels like we’re right there. If we don’t, we’re going to be second because we’re going to go win this thing on out.”
The Black Diamonds will be playing just their third home game of the season, and Oft is glad the team is back at its friendly confines. He also said such an environment seems to pump up the squad that much more.
“It feels good,” Oft said about being back home for the first time in three weeks. “We have Poteau this week. It’s a big game.
We’re going to have to step up. We can’t play like we have been. We have to start out hot. We have to play as hard as we can. When we have our crowd behind our backs, and our band and cheerleaders, it helps.”
Beating Poteau is even more important for the senior duo since this will be the two seniors’ last chance to do it as their senior seasons are bringing on mixed emotions.
“It’s sad,” Rogers said. “It’s making me sad that it’s my last year. I don’t want it to be my last season. The first two years weren’t the greatest. Since Coach (Brandon) Tyler came in here, it’s really been a fun experience for all of us. We’re really happy he came in here. Going to Blanchard (in Class 4A state quarterfinals last season) was fun. We didn’t win that game last year, but going to the second round of the playoffs last year was really fun. I hope we make it farther this year. Luckily for me, I’ll be able to play a little bit in college, but not everyone is lucky enough for that.”
“It’s sad, but at the end of the day, I’ve got to live with it,” Oft said. “I have to play 100 percent every snap because it goes by like a blur.”
