Black Diamonds to have 2-day football camp Thursday and Friday
The Sallisaw Black Diamonds football team will wrap up their one and only spring practice week with a two-day team camp, beginning at 10 a.m. Thursday and Friday at Perry F. Lattimore Stadium.
“We’re definitely looking forward to it,” Sallisaw football coach Brandon Tyler said. “We want to see where we’re at right now. We’re not going to be near as far due to lack of (spring) practices. We’re only getting three (spring) practices in before we get after it (in the two-day team camp).”
While the Black Diamonds only will have three days of spring practice, which started Monday morning and will have its final session at 9 this morning, there is still a lot that can be accomplished in the two-day team camp for the team.
“We’re looking forward to it,” Tyler said. “We can still fly to the football. We can still put out a lot of attitude and effort. That’s what we’re going to be kind of looking at during those two days of team camp. We want to see guys flying to the football. Offensively, we’re just going to try to execute up front. We’re still trying to piece together an offensive line since we’re graduating three guys that were really good from last year. We need to have someone step up in those spots. We’re going to have some young guys grow up in a hurry. That’s what spring football is about. We’re going to give these guys some reps. We’re going to go against some live contact on Thursday and Friday. That’s going to help us out and see where we’re at.”
The Black Diamonds will welcome District 4A-4 foe Stilwell along with Pocola and Sequoyah-Tahlequah — all whose mascots are Indians. While Tyler said Sallisaw and Stilwell likely won’t compete against each other, he said the two-day team camp will be a good measuring stick for the Black Diamonds.
“This spring, we’ve got a lot of young guys out there that are still trying to find their way,” he said. “It’s going to be different going against live contact and at full speed. That’s going to help us out tremendously.”
Tyler liked what he saw on Day 1 of spring practice on Monday morning.
“It went good,” said Tyler, who is set to enter his third season at the helm. “We have a lot of numbers. We’re sitting with 93 guys right now, (grades) nine through 12. We’re up about 15 more kids than last year. Our numbers are continuing to improve. Hopefully, all 93 will make it through the summer and into the fall with us. We have a lot of new faces out there, and there’s a lot of learning going on. It was a good day.”
The biggest thing Tyler wanted to see Monday morning was how much the players coming back had retained from last season. It was quite a bit.
“Everything was pretty smooth offensively,” Tyler said. “Our running game and our passing game was good. Our skill guys were in the right spots. We’re running down hill and catching the ball, and we’re throwing the ball well at quarterback. Those guys are in good shape. We’re having to piece together our (offensive) linemen a little bit more. It’s just going to depend on those front five guys. We’ve got to get them ready to go.”
