RB Danny Krenger goes 80 yards to the end zone to give the Irish a 14-7 lead in the first quarter. (Photo by Joe Bendiez)

Two years ago, in the exact same situation, the Black Diamonds ended McGuinness’ season in the state quarterfinals. However, redemption was up for grabs Friday night, and the Fighting Irish were a team on a mission.

The offense struggled to put points against the Harrah Panthers a week ago, but it was a different story last night. On the first two Irish offensive plays, Tharp threw two 80 yard bombs to David Love, and then Danny Krenger, for Irish touchdowns.

Sallisaw would not go out quietly. Following both McGuinness scores, Black Diamond QB Ben Oberste drove Sallisaw down field twice to tie up the game. Momentum would turn in favor of McGuinness after Danny Krenger forced Oberste to fumble the ball deep in Diamond territory. The next play Tharp tossed a six-yard TD to Cody Chancellor to give McGuinness the lead for the rest of the ball game.

Sallisaw knocked on the door plenty of times, but the defense was on high alert to not give up any more big plays after Oberste’s last touchdown of the night to a wide open Brendon Copeland. The score remained 21-14 until late in the fourth, when Chancellor caught another touchdown pass to put away Sallisaw.

It was a total team effort, and the Irish will face the Wagoner Bulldogs in the state semi-finals next week. While the game time and game location has not been announced, the Irish look more impressive than ever.

There was a great crowd on hand on the Irish side, and they witnessed a truly great ball game. Hopefully the team can get the same treatment in the semi’s.

Wagoner is no pushover, though. They blasted Woodward in a shutout, as well as beating the daylight out of Fort Gibson in the first round. The Irish will need to bring the same kind of fire if the want to earn a date with either Catoosa or Clinton at Boone Pickens Stadium.

One last thing though, pray for Nick Jeffreys. He took a hard hit in the back, and was taken to a local hospital. Jeffries is an essential part to McGuinness’ success and to see it happen to such a good kid, is awful. Prayers out to him for a speedy recovery.