Grove and Sallisaw squared off in some playoff action on Friday, but Grove had to settle for second. They were just a hair shy of victory and fell 27-26 to the Sallisaw Black Diamonds. The result was an unpleasant reminder to the Ridgerunners of the 9-7 loss they experienced in the pair's previous head-to-head fixture back in November of 2019.
Grove's defeat came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Isaac Sheffield, who picked up 94 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Sheffield is becoming a predictor of Grove's success: when he posts at least two receiving touchdowns the team is 7-1 (and 1-2 when he doesn't). Another rusher making a difference was Ezra Gates, who rushed for 109 yards and a touchdown.
The critical scores for Sallisaw came from Cooper Cox, Kenyon Hill, and Kase Adams.
Grove's loss ended a five-game streak of away wins and brought them to 8-3. As for Sallisaw, they have been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 9-2 record this season.
Grove does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for Sallisaw, they will take on Elgin at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Elgin knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 31 points or more in their past ten matchups -- so hopefully Sallisaw likes a good challenge.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
