Injured teammate returns to give Black Diamonds an extra boost before facing undefeated Elgin

Photo by Sallisaw Football Booster Club Facebook page

By Buck Ringgold

A visitor stopped by after Sallisaw’s final practice Thursday before the Black Diamonds’ 4A quarterfinal playoff game Friday in Elgin.

Sallisaw coach Brandon Tyler had some anticipation the visitor might show up. Pretty much all of his players didn’t. But when he did make his appearance in the Diamonds’ locker room, the players’ initial shock quickly wore off. The emotions quickly turned to joy, happiness and gladness.

Just a few days ago, Aiden Ruiz – a senior and one of the team’s vocal leaders – was fighting for his life after being severely injured in a car accident late Sunday night. But on Thursday, he was able to leave a hospital in Fayetteville, Ark., and not only that, he was walking on his own power.

A walking miracle.

“He kind of shocked us there,” Tyler said. “I knew he was getting out (Thursday), but he came by.

“We were just finishing up practice and everyone was in the locker room and he came through there, him and his dad, and it was great to see the young man. Just being able to walk and seeing the car, and the way it was destroyed Sunday night, it was a miracle that he’s still here with us and we just give God the glory for him still being here.”

Aiden Ruiz – Photo courtesy of Sallisaw Football Booster Club Facebook page

Ruiz had successful surgery earlier in the week, and it turned out he severely injured his back. His football career at Sallisaw is over, and he won’t be able to compete on the school’s wrestling team, either.

But he came out of the hospital, and is walking again. That’s the important victory right there.

“We’ve all handled it pretty well; we all got to go up and see him in the hospital,” Tyler said. “He’s home now, so everyone got to see him (Thursday), and we’re just thankful that he’s still here with us because it could have been a lot worse. … It just ended up being a broken back and he had surgery and he’s up walking, and I think he’s going to have a full recovery.

“It was great to see him and all of our kids were excited to see him, with all he’s been through.”

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Ruiz’s will was just another sign that the Black Diamonds seemingly found a way to pull out a win against all odds, which they’ve pretty much done all season long.

Last week, in the Black Diamonds’ first-round 4A playoff game, they rallied in the closing seconds to tie the score against Grove and force overtime as Brian Castor drilled a field goal. Sallisaw had the ball first and tailback Kenyan Hill scored a TD and added the extra point; then Grove scored a TD on its possession and decided to go for two.

But on a keeper, the Ridgerunners’ quarterback was stopped short of the goal line by a host of Black Diamonds, led by senior Broque Oft. However, further evidence of the play showed that the quarterback’s knee was down at the 2-yard line.

“His knee was down at the 2-yard line as he was trying to reach over,” Tyler said. “The referee made the right call, he was definitely short of the goal line and all that, so it was the right call.

“We had a couple of guys on him; Broque Oft was there, Noah Briley and I think one more, maybe Caden Cowan. … They did have him wrapped up there, and I think we would have had him short anyway.”

It was the third overtime game Sallisaw experienced this season. The Diamonds are 3-0 in overtime games, having defeated Hilldale and Poteau beyond 48 minutes in the regular season. Sallisaw also won last season’s first-round 4A playoff game at Cushing in overtime.

“When you get to that point in the game, like what happened the other night, you can kind of see their eyes light up and be like, ‘Hey, we’ve been here and done this, let’s go win this ballgame and get out of here,’ and they were able to do that,” Tyler said.

“We’ve been in overtime three times and we’ve come out on top in all three and that makes me feel good that our kids haven’t ever quit and they’ll keep battling until the final whistle.”

In that Poteau game, a 14-7 Sallisaw overtime win, the Diamonds had to rally late in regulation. It was a blocked punt from Ruiz – with Poteau leading 7-0 – that helped ignite the rally. 

The Black Diamonds tied the score, forced overtime, and like they did last week, they scored first in the extra possession and held Poteau on fourth down in a win that boosted Sallisaw’s chances to host a playoff game.

“(Ruiz) made the big play there against Poteau; he’s been big for us all year long on special teams,” Tyler said. “He was kind of our special teams leader, going down on kickoffs and obviously on punt return and punt team, whatever we needed him to do.

“He had the big interception against Grove to set up our second touchdown, so we’re definitely going to miss his presence on the field; but not only that, but his leadership presence and he was kind of our vocal leader and we’re definitely going to miss that (Friday) night.”

In regards to Friday night, the Diamonds will be making a long trek down to Elgin, near Lawton in southwestern Oklahoma. They will be going up against one of the best teams in 4A in the Owls, who come in with a gaudy 11-0 record.

“By far, the best team we’ve seen up to this point,” Tyler said. “They’re very, very talented, all the way across the board.

“Offensively, I think they’re averaging 50 points a game and defensively, I think they’re barely giving up four points a game, so they’re very talented in what they do.”

Friday can indicate another huge step in the two-year turnaround Tyler has had at Sallisaw. Two years ago, the Diamonds didn’t win a single game. Last season, they won seven, including the overtime win against a defending 4A runner-up from the year before.

The expectations predictably were raised several notches going into 2024 for the Black Diamonds. For Tyler and his team, they were eager to embrace those raised expectations.

“Going in, it’s what we want,” he said. “That’s our goal, to compete for a district championship and get that home-field playoff advantage. We fell a game short, but the goals we really want are still there and I think they’re accustomed now to the expectations to this program on where we want to get to each and every year, start getting to the semifinals and getting to the finals and going that route.

“I feel like they understand that now and it’s been instilled in that. … These guys have bought in and we’ve got great assistant coaches and I can’t thank those guys enough; those nine guys that we have make my job a lot easier.”

Now, with a win on Friday, Sallisaw (9-2) can punch its ticket to the 4A semifinals for the first time since 2009.

“We’re just going to go down there with the right mindset, and that we’ve kind of got to contain them and try to slow them down a little bit and just get first downs and move the chains and run the clock and kind of see where we’re at,” Tyler said. “We’ve had a great week of practice and preparation for this week, our kids are ready to go and they’re up for the challenge.”

And they’re riding an extra wave of emotion, getting to see their injured teammate walk into the locker room on Thursday.

That was one huge victory off the field for Sallisaw this week. The Black Diamonds are now determined to cap what has been a trying week with an on-field win that further signifies the tradition-rich program is indeed back and in the mix to contend for the gold ball.

Buck Ringgold | @Bucks_Ballpark | realarklahomasports@gmail.com