Sallisaw Black Diamonds OK 2025 Team Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em><strong>Get 25% Off Your Subscription By Entering Knight25 In The Coupon Code Area. Enjoy!</strong></em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It's the month of July and that means it's preview time! Throughout the month of July and even into August, we are publishing well over 100 of the most in-depth team previews that you'll find anywhere to get you completely ready for the 2025 football season. This is something that began for us at PRZ-Oklahoma in 2021 and it continues to get bigger and better every single year. We're looking forward to diving deep into the top teams across the state in every class. From defending champions, to the top contenders and plenty of dark horses and other teams to know, we'll have complete coverage every single day. There will be multiple previews dropping every single day! In this post, we take a look at the Sallisaw Black Diamonds!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Sallisaw Black Diamonds</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em><strong>Preseason Prep Redzone Ranking: #4 In Class 4A</strong></em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Head Coach: Brandon Tyler - 2nd Season - 16-8 Record At Sallisaw</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>2024 RESULTS (9-3 Record - Lost In Class 4A Quarterfinals)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Aug. 30th - Beat Pryor 31-14<br>Sept. 6th - Beat Stigler 35-21<br>Sept. 20th - Beat Eufaula 27-14<br>Sept. 27th - Beat Hilldale 40-34<br>Oct. 4th - Lost To Broken Bow 56-14<br>Oct. 11th - Beat McLain 28-20<br>Oct. 17th - Beat Glenpool 38-7<br>Oct. 25th - Beat Poteau 14-7 (OT)<br>Nov. 1st - Beat Stilwell 63-14<br>Nov. 8th - Lost To Ada 40-14<br>1st Round - Beat Grove 27-26 (OT)<br>Quarterfinals - Lost To Elgin 49-6</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em><strong>2024 Offensive Scoring Average: 28.1 Points Per Game<br>2024 Defensive Scoring Average: 25.2 Points Per Game</strong></em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Sallisaw Black Diamonds came into the 2024 season with some momentum after going 7-5 in 2023. In 2022, they didn't win a single game and would bounce back in a major way by making a quarterfinal appearance. They followed that up with a solid 2024 campaign, where they were once again one of the final eight teams standing and they contended for the district crown. They opened the 2024 season with four straight wins, including a dominant win over 5A semifinalist Pryor in the season opener. They would lose in week five to Broken Bow but the Black Diamonds responded. Sallisaw won four straight, including an overtime win over Poteau to set up a week ten showdown with Ada for the district championship. Ada came out on top and Sallisaw would have to settle for the two-seed. After another overtime victory, this time in the first round against Grove, Sallisaw would punch their ticket to the quarterfinals for the second straight year. It's been 15 years since Sallisaw made back to back quarterfinal appearances. The season came to an end there as they ran into an Elgin-shpaed wall. That Elgin team would of course go on to win their first state championship in school history. For the second straight season, Sallisaw's year would end in the quarterfinal round with a loss to the eventual state champions. But going into year three under head coach Brandon Tyler, there is plenty of room for optimism that this year they'll get over that quarterfinal hump and make a run in Class 4A.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>2025 OUTLOOK</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sallisaw comes into this season as a top five team in our Class 4A preseason rankings. That's the good news. Expectations are high and they should be high with the returning talent on both sides of the ball. So while the preseason rank is good news, the bad news is that they have plenty of company in their district. Sallisaw is one of three teams from this district that are in the top five of the preseason rankings. So needless to say, this could end up being one of the more competitive districts in the state. There's going to be a good football team that ends up having to go on the road in the first round of the playoffs. Seven starters are back on the offensive side of the ball. They have to replace a few starters on the offensive line but at the same time, they do have talent on the line of scrimmage and experience returning in the backfield. Defensively, the Black Diamonds bring back six starters and we think that they strength of that unit could come on the front seven. They have some guys that can absolutely cause havoc on the defensive line and with the linebackers. And then you have the head coach. Brandon Tyler is one of the best in the state and his teams always outperform any expectations. And those expectations are high so this might be the year that Sallisaw breaks through and makes that deep playoff run. If nothing else, we think that Sallisaw will have a very entertaining season. They certainly did in 2024. They had two games go to overtime and several other games that were decided by one scores.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>KEY LOSS TO GRADUATION</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cooper Cox - Wide Receiver</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>PLAYERS TO WATCH</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1678733"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-686fc8175054c"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Junior offensive lineman [player_tooltip player_id='1678733' first='Dagan' last='Grizzle'] comes into this season with a lot of momentum after having somewhat of a breakout season for the Black Diamonds last year. Sallisaw's coaches are really excited about Grizzle's potential and for an area where the Black Diamonds did lose some experience, having a player like Grizzle back anchoring the line of scrimmage will be helpful. He checks a lot of the boxes from a prospect standpoint. He measures in at 6'5 and over 250 pounds. He certainly looked the part when we caught Sallisaw in action this spring. When we watched them, Grizzle was lining up at left tackle and was fairly dominant in rep after rep. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1706932"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-686fc817505cb"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Defensively, we really like what Sallisaw brings back in their front seven unit. And the conversation starts with senior [player_tooltip player_id='1706932' first='Jace' last='Holman'] at the linebacker position. Holman was a heat-seeking missile for the Black Diamonds during his junior season. He finished the 2024 year with 120 tackles, including 21 tackles for loss. And when we got a chance to watch Sallisaw this spring, that front seven was absolutely nasty with their ability to control the line of scrimmage and shut down opposing run games. Holman is a big reason for that. This unit has a few names to keep an eye on this season but Holman is definitely one that has proven that he can produce at a high level. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1678737"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-686fc81750622"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Senior [player_tooltip player_id='1678737' first='Jackson' last='Harris'] has moved over to running back as his full time position after spending the last several years as a run-first quarterback. Last season, Harris saw his production go up in the running game as he finished with 1,000 yards and we're looking forward to seeing how he looks this season. When you look at his numbers from last year, Harris got off to a really fast start. He had 100+ rushing yards and two touchdowns in each of their first three games. But he only had three touchdowns on the ground the rest of the season. Not only will Harris be looking to replicate that fast start in 2025, he'll be looking to have a complete season, becoming one of the top rushers in 4A. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1678735"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-686fc81750674"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Junior quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1678735' first='Kase' last='Adams'] is ready to be unleashed this season. He split time with Harris at the quarterback position last season and then he was really let go in their last three games of the season. On the year, he threw for a little over 800 yards and ten touchdowns. But well over half of his passing attempts came in those last three games of the season. Now, Adams looks to be the guy at quarterback and we think that Sallisaw could become very balanced on that side of the ball. They have to find some new playmakers at wide receiver for Adams but they have a few guys to keep an eye on. It wouldn't be surprising to see Adams become one of the breakout QBs in Class 4A this fall. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1706930"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-686fc817506c5"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">One of the areas where Sallisaw needs to see new names emerge is at wide receiver after they lost their leading receiver from last year to graduation. Senior [player_tooltip player_id='1706930' first='Tae' last='Muskrat-Flynn'] is a player that we're excited to see on offense but he's also going to be one of their more productive players on defense. Starting there, Flynn finished with nearly 70 tackles and four interceptions last season. In fact, he filled up the stat sheet on the defensive side of the ball and is going to be one of the top two-way players in Class 4A. Offensively, he was second on the team in touchdown receptions. We think that his numbers will go up dramatically on offense and he could end up leading the team in receiving. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>MORE NAMES TO KNOW</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Asa Ulrich - 2027 Wide Receiver/Defensive Back<br>[player_tooltip player_id='1678731' first='Cade' last='Tate'] - 2027 Offensive/Defensive Lineman<br>[player_tooltip player_id='1596849' first='Calvin' last='Kilpatrick'] - 2029 Athlete<br>Carson Sharp - 2028 Wide Receiver/Defensive Back<br>Dawson Lamb - 2026 Offensive Lineman<br>Dawson Upton - 2028 Wide Receiver/Defensive Back<br>Elijah Hill - 2027 Tight End/Defensive End<br>Gunner Griffey - 2029 Quarterback/Linebacker<br>Hunter Smith - 2026 Defensive Lineman<br>Keaton Brant - 2028 Wide Receiver/Defensive Back<br>Kenyan Hill - 2027 Running Back<br>Luke Warner - 2029 Tight End/Defensive End<br>Trevor Crawford - 2027 Offensive/Defensive Lineman</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>2025 SCHEDULE</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Aug. 29th - AT Pryor</strong><br>- For the second straight season, Sallisaw will open up the regular season with a meeting against Pryor. This will be one of the top match-ups in week zero this season as both teams are top five squads in their respective classes. Sallisaw won last year's meeting 31-14.&nbsp;<br><strong>Sept. 5th - Stigler</strong><br>- Sallisaw hosts Stigler in week one and this has been a series that has been dominated by Stigler over the last decade but the Black Diamonds are looking to turn things around. They won last year's meeting 35-21, which snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Panthers.&nbsp;<br><strong>Sept. 19th - Eufaula</strong><br>- After a week off, Sallisaw will wrap up non-district play with a home game against Eufaula. The Ironheads were a new non-district opponent for the Black Diamonds last year. Sallisaw rolled to a 27-14 win. Last year's meeting was the first between these two teams in two decades.&nbsp;<br><strong>Sept. 26th - Hilldale</strong><br>- Sallisaw will open up district play at home against Hilldale in week four. This game was a very entertaining one to watch last season, with Sallisaw winning 40-34. They also won 14-10 in 2023. Hilldale will look quite different this season as they lost a lot of their key players to transfers.<br><strong>Oct. 3rd - AT Broken Bow</strong><br>- The first massive district test comes in week five when Sallisaw travels to face Broken Bow, who's another top five team in our preseason rankings. Last season, the Black Diamonds got out to a 4-0 start and then lost 56-14 to the Savages. They'll certainly have this one circled.&nbsp;<br><strong>Oct. 10th - McLain</strong><br>- After the Broken Bow showdown, Sallisaw returns home to host McLain in week six. The Black Diamonds would beat the Titans 28-20 last season. They've met three times in the last five seasons and Sallisaw is 3-0 in those meetings. McLain flirted with a playoff spot last season.&nbsp;<br><strong>Oct. 16th - Glenpool</strong><br>- On a Fall Break Thursday night, Sallisaw will host Glenpool in week seven. The Warriors were a new opponent on the Sallisaw schedule last season. Prior to last season, these two teams hadn't met in nearly two decades. The Black Diamonds rolled to a 38-7 victory last season.&nbsp;<br><strong>Oct. 24th - AT Poteau</strong><br>- Sallisaw goes on the road to face Poteau, who will look quite different this year under a first year head coach. The Black Diamonds beat the Pirates 14-7 in overtime a year ago and that was a memorable win. The victory snapped a seven-game losing streak in this series.&nbsp;<br><strong>Oct. 31st - AT Stilwell</strong><br>- On a Halloween Friday night in week nine, Sallisaw will hit the road for the second straight week when they face Stilwell. The Black Diamonds won 63-14 in last season's meeting and have won the last two in the series. And this has been a match-up that has gone Sallisaw's way.&nbsp;<br><strong>Nov. 7th - Ada</strong><br>- The district championship could come down to this week ten clash when Sallisaw hosts Ada. These two teams have met in each of the last three years and the Cougars are 3-0 in the series. If the Black Diamonds want to contend for the state title, they will want to take care of business here.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>NOTABLE</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We've said this a few times over the last few years but head coach Brandon Tyler is one of the best football coaches in the state of Oklahoma and the numbers back it up. Tyler turned Vian into one of the top small school programs in the state. He went to Arkansas to coach before returning to his alma mater at Gore. He immediately turned them around and turned them into a winner, contending for state championships. Sallisaw went 1-19 in the two seasons before Tyler took over in 2023. They've gone 16-8 in the last two seasons under Tyler. And last season, he hit a major milestone. Tyler won his 200th career game as a head football coach. Overall, he has a 204-44 record and shows no signs of slowing down. Simply put, the guy wins football games and he does it at a high level. Now, he's looking to lead Sallisaw to new heights. They've taken positive steps over the last two years but they appear to be ready to contend with the big dogs in Class 4A and that means making it to the semifinals or beyond.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>LAST FIVE SEASONS</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2024 - 9-3 - Lost In Class 4A Quarterfinals<br>2023 - 7-5 - Lost In Class 4A Quarterfinals<br>2022 - 0-10 - Missed Playoffs<br>2021 - 1-9 - Missed Playoffs<br>2020 - 5-6 - Lost In Class 4A 2nd Round</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>2 State Championships</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>1981 - Beat Newcastle 21-14<br>1980 - Beat Lindsay 33-22</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->