Fort Gibson Blows a Second Half Lead to Sallisaw

Originally Published: Oct 10, 2009 12:15 AM CDT

Bobby Lewis
Oklahoma Sports Reporter

FORT GIBSON, Oklahoma – After last week’s 23-point loss at Wagoner, the Fort Gibson Tigers’ (3-3, 1-2) offense needed a jolt to get back in the win column. They got it early in the second half from their quarterback, Andrew Arnold.

After heading into the locker room with an 11-8 lead over Sallisaw (6-0, 3-0), Arnold led the Tigers down the field to start the third quarter and pushed Fort Gibson’s lead back to ten with a strike down the middle of the field to Gannon Whitley. The junior running back got free behind the linebackers and made a great adjustment with the ball still in the air and held on for the score.

The crowd got louder after the Tigers forced a three-and-out on defense. The cheers would die down after Arnold made his first mistake of the night.
Leading 18-8, the junior quarterback tried to set up a halfback screen to the near sideline but left the ball short of his receiver. Sallisaw snatched the ball and returned it for a score, giving the Black Diamonds new life.

Fort Gibson and Arnold would respond. On the first play of the next drive, Arnold hooked up with senior wide receiver Aaron Miller deep over the middle for a huge, 70-yard score that put Fort Gibson back on top.

Fort Gibson looked like it would ride the momentum to a big win, but Sallisaw came back to win in overtime, 31-28. The loss drops the Tigers back to .500 for the first time since Week 2. The Black Diamonds remain unbeaten at 6-0. They will host Poteau next week. The Tigers will host Hilldale.