Black Diamonds beat Poteau in OT for first win in 8 years

Odds seemed to be stacked against Sallisaw for most of Friday night’s District 4A-4 showdown against Poteau at Perry F. Lattimore Stadium.

However, a confluence of big plays in all three phases turned what appeared to be another loss to the Pirates instead into a galvanizing victory, continuing the upward trajectory the Black Diamond program has enjoyed in the second season under coach Brandon Tyler.

With sophomore quarterback Kase Adams coming off the bench to throw two touchdown passes — one in the final seconds of regulation to force overtime and then another for the eventual game-winner in overtime — the Diamonds ended up being the exuberant ones, rallying to enjoy a riveting 14-7 win against the arch-rival Pirates.

For Sallisaw (7-1, 4-1), it was the Black Diamonds’ first win against Poteau since 2016, and it also ended a stretch where the Pirates (5-3, 3-2) had won 10 of the past 11 games against the Diamonds.

“It’s been a long time since Sallisaw has won (against Poteau), and our crowd was behind us,” Tyler said. “They never gave up on us. Our kids never gave up on us, and our coaches never gave up on them. So, we kept battling, and I’m proud of those guys, especially the seniors who got us ready to play.”

One senior who was finally glad to beat Poteau in perhaps his final chance to do so was Cooper Cox, who caught the game-winning touchdown pass in overtime.

“We played really good defense [Friday], and that’s what matters at the end of the day,” he said. “I had never beaten Poteau in my whole life, so doing it this year means a whole lot to me, but we just came out ready to play.

“I know I can speak on behalf of my senior group. All the way from third grade to last year, we had never beat the Poteau Pirates. You know this year, we needed it. We really needed it, so I guess it’s the best year to do it. That was our only chance to have [to knock off Poteau].”

For much of the game, Poteau controlled the pace. The Pirates churned out the clock with a relentless rushing game — carrying the ball a whopping 58 times — while Sallisaw only ran a combined seven offensive plays in the second and third quarters, and had just 22 snaps entering the final quarter.

Poteau broke a scoreless tie on the second play of the fourth quarter for a 7-0 lead. Again, Sallisaw was unable to move the ball and punted it back to the Pirates, who were in position to extend their lead, but missed a long field goal with more than six minutes left.

The Diamonds got a first down on the next drive before stalling, ending up punting it away with 3:50 left. However this time, after Creed Nelson got a 45-yard punt to land at the Poteau 16 yard line, Sallisaw’s defense was ready to stuff the Pirates’ ground game, and got a three-and-out.

Sallisaw then got even more than what it had bargained for when senior Aiden Ruiz broke through to block the punt, though the ball bounced forward 14 yards before landing at the Poteau 34 yard line.

“Me and Cole Mayfield, the guy outside of me, our job is to make it there, and the guy that blocked Cole Mayfield actually was supposed to block me,” Ruiz said. “All the help that we had putting the pressure on them, it helped me get inside of him and really get the leverage and the speed to block that punt.

“Not only did we block that punt, it put our offense in a lot better position to make what I know can happen, and they did exactly that.”

That happened on the very next play, as the Diamonds pulled off a flea-flicker. Adams, who took over as quarterback on the previous series, found Cooper Jackson streaking down the sideline, and Jackson made the catch, going 28 yards before being brought down at the Poteau 6 yard line, setting up a first-and-goal.

“I just came in and was just trying to make some plays,” Adams said. “We got that one down the sideline, and that kind of sparked the team.”

Sallisaw then tried three running plays, with Jackson lined up to take a direct snap in the “Wildcat Formation,” taking the Diamonds down to the Poteau 2 yard line, setting up a fourth-and-goal. With less than a minute on the clock, it was the ultimate do-or-die situation.

This time, Adams lined up behind center. He faked a handoff on a play action, and fired the ball to the left corner of the end zone, where Caden Blount was able to snag the throw to put the Diamonds on the board with 26 seconds left, pulling them within a point.

“I just thought, I can’t screw up, I had to make that play and give it to [Blount],” Adams said. “With the game on the line, [I] can’t make mistakes. [I] got to give it to him.”

Brian Castor came on to tack on the extra point, tying the score at 7, and eventually forcing overtime.

Poteau won the coin toss in the extra session, and elected to play defense. On third down from the Poteau 7 yard line, Tyler dialed up another trick play.

With Adams lined up at receiver, tailback Kenyan Hill was lined up to take the snap. Hill then pitched it to Jackson, who in turn gave it to Adams.

Adams then promptly found Cox streaking to the end zone, and was able to loft a perfect pass to the senior to give the Diamonds their first lead of the night. Castor’s PAT made it a seven-point game.

“It’s awesome,” Cox said in regards to his game-winning grab. “The coaches couldn’t draw it up any better. I was wide open, and it was a good ball. When things go our way, it’s fun. So glad to beat [Poteau] finally.”

Then Sallisaw’s defense — on the field for much of the night — dug deep for one final series. Poteau faced a third down at the Sallisaw 4 yard line, but fumbled the ball before getting it back for a two-yard loss to the Sallisaw 6, setting up fourth down.

Poteau quarterback Sam Tecla dropped back to pass, but faced heavy pressure from defender Hunter Smith. Tecla threw a pass in the direction of the end zone, but several Sallisaw players were able to deflect it, ending an enthralling and exhilarating comeback by the home team.

“Our defense played really well early, and our possessions were going to be limited,” Tyler said. “They ran the ball 58 times compared to our whatever we ran. You can run all the plays you want, but if you can’t get points on the board, it doesn’t matter. [I’m] so proud of our defense, and they did a great job when they had to.”

Poteau more than doubled Sallisaw in total yardage, with the Pirates gaining 308 yards to the Diamonds’ 151. Of those 308 yards, all but two of those came on the ground.

However, Sallisaw was able to keep Poteau out of the end zone for the first three quarters, even forcing two turnovers.

Early in the second quarter, the Pirates faced a fourth-and-7 from the Sallisaw 31 yard line, and attempted a pass. But Sallisaw defensive back Tae Muskrat-Flynn stepped in front of the receiver and picked off the ball at his own 25, returning it 14 yards to the 39.

Poteau then got the ball back with exactly seven minutes left until halftime after forcing a punt. The Pirates used up those seven minutes, but came away empty-handed by throwing an incomplete pass from the Sallisaw 45 yard line on the final play of the half.

The Pirates took the second-half kickoff and quickly moved downfield, getting inside the Diamonds’ 20 yard line before a holding penalty moved them back. Two plays later, a pass toward the end zone was tipped by Sallisaw’s Broque Oft, who was able to maintain concentration and pick off the pass, nullifying another potential Poteau threat.

“Coach [Richard] Pratt and our defensive staff did a tremendous job all week getting our kids prepared for that,” Tyler said. “We got some turnovers there. Offensively, we’ve got to capitalize on that. Our defense gives us the ball back there, and we didn’t do a very good job up front at times. Poteau’s got a heck of a defense, always has, but we were just fortunate to get it in overtime and come away with a win.”

In his relief outing, Adams ended up completing 5-of-6 passes for 65 yards and two touchdowns. Starting signal-caller Jackson Harris was 7-of-14 passing for 49 yards. Cox was the top receiver, grabbing five passes for 20 yards.

Even more good news awaited the Black Diamonds as they retreated to the locker room after milling around on the field with fans and students. They found out Ada had knocked off district front-runner Broken Bow, which had handed Sallisaw its lone 4A-4 defeat.

It now sets up a three-way tie for the lead between Sallisaw, Broken Bow and Ada. The Diamonds are at home again Friday to face Stilwell on Senior Night before going to Ada in the regular-season finale Nov. 8.

With their win against Poteau and Broken Bow’s loss to Ada, the Diamonds are now in prime position to play for at least a share of the 4A-4 championship.

“We have a chance,” Tyler said. “We win next week against Stilwell and then we go to Ada. If we beat them, and if Poteau can beat Broken Bow, we’re No. 1 in the district.

“We have to take care of business, and that’s what I told the kids all week. We don’t have to worry about anybody else right now. All we’ve got to do is focus on Sallisaw and take care of Sallisaw, and we were able to do that.”

The players also know what’s on the line now after Friday’s activities unfolded, especially now that Sallisaw was able to put its ghastly losing streak against Poteau in the rearview mirror.

“That’s why you’ve got to play, anything can happen,” Cox said. “Broken Bow beat us pretty good, but Ada put it on them [Friday], and that’s why you keep going. You just win and worry about yourself, let other things happen and take care of yourselves.”

All of a sudden, in the span of a few final minutes of regulation and into overtime, the odds turned significantly in Sallisaw’s favor.

“We brought that energy like I knew we could,” Ruiz said. “We could have been better at times, but we picked up our pace. We did exactly what we knew we could.”