Black Diamonds home to begin playoffs against Grove

Nothing like history repeating itself.

On Nov. 15, 2019, the Sallisaw Black Diamonds and the Grove Ridgerunners met at Perry F. Lattimore Stadium in the opening round of the Class 4A playoffs, a game won by the Black Diamonds 9-7.

Fast forward to the same date in 2024, and the same two teams will meet at the same place in the same spot — the opening round of the Class 4A playoffs.

The Black Diamonds (8-2) will play their first home playoff game since Nov. 13, 2020, when they defeated Oologah 31-7 at Perry F. Lattimore Stadium, when they welcome the Ridgerunners (8-2) for an openinground playoff game.

The Black Diamonds ended the regular season last week with a 40-14 loss to the Ada Cougars last week at East Central University in Ada to give the Cougars the outright District 4A-4 title. However, last Friday night, the Poteau Pirates blanked the Broken Bow Savages 31-0 at Broken Bow’s Memorial Stadium to not only clinch the Pirates the fourth-place playoff spot from the district, but the Poteau win gave Sallisaw sole possession of the district runner-up spot and a home playoff game tonight.

“Obviously, it didn’t go the way we wanted to Thursday night (in the regular-season finale at Ada),” Sallisaw coach Brandon Tyler said. “We had four plays on offense, and they got 27 points and didn’t have to snap the football (on offense). Anytime you do that, it’s always hard to beat somebody. Obviously, we put ourselves behind the 8-ball there doing that.”

Nonetheless, the Black Diamonds have equalled the eight wins they got in that 2019 season, and they hope to get win No. 9 tonight.

“I was still proud of our kids for the regular season and going 8-2,” Tyler said. “We battled and won a lot of ball games. They were rewarded with a home playoff game this week. That’s awesome for our team and this program. I’m just proud for these seniors. They get one more home game this week.”

The last loss the Black Diamonds suffered prior to last week’s Ada loss happened Oct. 4 on homecoming, falling 56-14 to Broken Bow. The Black Diamonds responded with a four-game winning streak.

If that historic tidbit repeats itself, the Black Diamonds will win the gold ball and be the Class 4A state champions. Tyler has always liked how his team has responded after an adverse contest.

“They’ve had a great week of practice,” he said. “There’s a lot of pride in that locker room. They know what’s at stake now, especially the seniors. This could very well be our last week of practice if we don’t win (tonight). Nobody in this locker room wants that. I think we’ll come back (tonight) with a lot of passion and energy. We’ll try to go out and beat a good Grove team.”

The Ridgerunners were third in District 4A-3, with their only losses coming in back-to-back district games — 31-28 to Miami, the district runner-up, on Oct. 17 and 53-0 to district champion Wagoner on Oct. 25. Tyler said the Ridgerunners are a dangerous third-seeded team.

“They’re 8-2 as well, coming down from (Class) 5A,” he said. “They’re very talented. They have a great quarterback and great receivers. We definitely got our work cut out for us. I feel our kids will be up for the challenge.”

Tyler said the Black Diamonds cannot afford to have the sloppy play that cost them in last week’s district championship game loss to Ada.

“We have to take care of the football,” Tyler said. “We have to go out and manage the game. We can’t have turnovers and they score points off them. We have to be good in special teams and not give up a blocked punt (for a touchdown). The defense has been playing great. They’ve played great throughout the year. They’ve bailed us out a lot, and they did a great the other night in only giving up 13 points. They’re doing a great job on that side of the ball. They need to do what they’re capable of doing again. We’ve got to get some offense generated somehow, some way to get some points on the board and try to figure out how to win in Round 1 (of the Class 4A playoffs).”

The Black Diamonds are healthy heading into tonight’s opening-round playoff game.

“Going into Week 11, we’re as healthy as we have been all year,” Tyler said. “That’s always a bonus going into the playoffs.”