FOOTBALL: Mistakes prove costly as Claremore falls to Sallisaw in Week Zero
· Yahoo Sports
SALLISAW — The swing of emotions was palpable.
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For a brief moment Friday night, Claremore appeared to have seized control of a game that had spent nearly four quarters refusing to belong to either team.
Facing third down in a 14-all game with just more than five minutes remaining, Kellen Gaede dropped back and launched a deep ball to Ayden Gaines for a 43-yard gain to the Sallisaw 5-yard line.
The senior Oologah transfer enthusiastically celebrated his momentous grab with his teammates as the Zebras' sideline and the visiting stands erupted.
Then Gaines saw the yellow flag lying near midfield.
His celebration stopped. Both hands went to his helmet as the lead official delivered the call.
Holding.
No 43-yard catch. No first-and-goal. No momentum.
Instead, the play became perhaps the most painful example of a problem that plagued Claremore throughout its season opener.
The Zebras committed 13 penalties for 101 yards and lost 2 fumbles as the Class 4A Black Diamonds capitalized on a series of fourth-quarter mistakes to rally for a 20-14 victory at Perry F. Lattimore Stadium. The loss gave Claremore — playing in the program's first Week Zero game — its first 0-1 start since 2022.
The Zebras were flagged six times for offside, four times for holding, twice for personal fouls and once for a false start.
The lack of discipline was a theme pointed to afterward by both coach Jarrett Hurt and Gaines.
“It comes down to a lack of discipline,” Hurt said. “Jumping offsides. Personal foul. Things of that nature. That’s controllable. We have to be a better-disciplined football team.”
Gaines, echoing Hurt nearly perfectly: “It all comes down to discipline. Tonight, we had like 20 offside penalties against our defense, a couple of holds, a couple of unsportsmanlikes. We’ve just gotta stay disciplined. We win that game if we just stay disciplined.”
Gaines provided nearly all of Claremore's biggest moments.
He caught 7 passes for 92 yards and a touchdown, recorded a sack and supplied the Zebras' first score by stripping a Sallisaw ball carrier and returning it nearly the length of the field for a touchdown.
“I thought it was pretty obvious he was the best player on the field tonight,” Hurt said. “We have to continue to find ways to get the ball in his hands.”
Gaede completed 13 of 20 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown while adding 28 yards on 9 carries, but lost 2 fumbles.
The Zebras averaged 4.6 yards per rushing attempt but finished with only 87 yards on the ground. Demetrius Cummings broke a 23-yard run early in the game but received only one carry.
Sallisaw quarterback Kase Adams was the Black Diamonds' catalyst, completing 12 of 17 passes for 159 yards while carrying 23 times for 46 yards. All three of Sallisaw's touchdowns came on Adams runs.
The Black Diamonds finished with a 287-202 advantage in total offense, including 159 yards through the air. Brodi Nickell caught 6 passes for 81 yards, while Kenyan Hill finished with 47 yards on 10 carries and another 13 yards receiving.
Sallisaw converted a pair of third downs and a fourth down on its opening possession, with Adams accounting for 34 rushing yards on 8 carries before powering into the end zone from a yard out with 5:53 remaining in the first quarter.
One defensive play erased the difference on the scoreboard, though.
With Sallisaw threatening again at the Claremore 12, Gaines stripped the ball carrier and raced 88 yards in the opposite direction for a touchdown with 2:18 remaining.
Suddenly, despite being heavily outgained by that point, the Zebras had a 7-all game.
Claremore began finding more success offensively in the second quarter but turned the ball over on downs at the Black Diamond 35 with 8:08 remaining.
Sallisaw had an opportunity to regain the lead late in the half, but a 37-yard field-goal attempt missed with 3:06 remaining, and the teams went into halftime tied despite the Black Diamonds holding an 188-75 advantage in total offense.
“I thought our defense battled tonight,” Hurt said. “They were on the field a long time and for a lot of snaps."
Then the Zebras finally produced their first offensive breakthrough.
With 10:09 remaining in the third, Gaede found Gaines uncovered down the middle of the field for a 54-yard touchdown, putting the Zebras ahead 14-7.
Claremore's defense helped protect that advantage.
Adams found Gunner Griffey wide open on third-and-5 from the Zebra 41 midway through the quarter, but the pass fell incomplete.
Sallisaw then lost a fumble at its own 48 with 2:07 remaining, seemingly giving Claremore an opportunity to take a two-score advantage.
Instead, the mistakes began piling up.
“We have a new group of kids,” Hurt said. “We have to develop a chemistry with this group of kids. We have to develop a sense of discipline and toughness with this group of kids, and that starts with me getting that out of them.”
The Zebras lost a fumble at their own 39 with 20 seconds remaining in the third, handing the Black Diamonds excellent field position.
Claremore appeared to have survived the turnover when Taydem Cape came up with a third-down sack with 9:40 remaining in the fourth, but an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty wiped out the stop and resulted in the ejection of a Zebra defensive lineman.
Given another opportunity, Sallisaw cashed in.
Adams scored on a 1-yard run on third down with 7:39 remaining, tying the game at 14-all.
Claremore answered with what briefly appeared to be the game's pivotal play.
Gaede's 43-yard completion to Gaines would have put the Zebras at the Sallisaw 5 with 5:06 remaining. Instead, the holding penalty pushed Claremore backward, and the Zebras eventually punted on fourth-and-18 from their own 42.
"Offensively the past two weeks, we’ve had trouble putting the ball in the end zone," Hurt said. "We’ve gotta be offensive on offense and score points. And be disciplined. And not kill ourselves with holding penalties.”
The defense responded by forcing a three-and-out, giving Claremore possession at its own 48 with 3:13 left and another opportunity to reclaim the lead.
But on the first play of the drive, the Zebras fumbled again.
“We had all the momentum several times tonight, but we couldn’t capitalize on the momentum that we had,” Hurt said. “It just comes down to a lack of concentration, a lack of discipline, a lack of mental toughness. I thought our shape was a whole lot better than theirs. It just comes down to some simple things: discipline, execution, mental toughness.”
This time, the Black Diamonds needed only a handful of plays to turn the mistake into the winning points.
Hill, who had been held to 12 yards on his first 8 carries, broke loose for a 31-yard run. Claremore was also called for offside twice during the possession as Adams scored his third touchdown on a 4-yard keeper to make it 20-14 with 2:08 remaining.
The extra point missed, leaving the Zebras with an opportunity to win.
Claremore moved to the Sallisaw 38 with 58 seconds remaining thanks to an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty and a heavy dose of Gaines. The drive stalled from there, however, and the Black Diamonds forced the turnover on downs and finally brought the Zebras' comeback hopes to an end.
Claremore will attempt to rebound in its home opener Friday against Bartlesville at Lantow Field. The Bruins opened their season with a 45-14 victory over Skiatook.
“It starts with looking inward,” Hurt said. “We’re not pointing the finger at anybody else. Same with me; I’m going to look inward. I challenged our kids to look inward, to control what we can control and to fix things, personally, that we screwed up tonight.”