Coronado Tolbert + Nacogdoches Pull Away from Lindale, 47-28

NACOGDOCHES -- For the first 24 minutes at Dragon Stadium Friday night, Lindale and Nacogdoches were locked in a furious battle to see who could blow the fuse in the scoreboard first.

But in the second half, Nacogdoches put the game in the hands of running back Coronado Tolbert, who bulled his way through the Eagle defense for 311 yards and five touchdowns on 27 carries as the Dragons won going away, 47-28.

It wasnʼt fancy, as Nacogdoches simply ran play after play up the middle with Tolbert doing a pretty fair imitation of a bulldozer.

He had three touchdowns by the half on runs of 1, 3 and 9 yards and tacked on a 3-yarder and an 8-yard run for good measure in the third period as the Dragons scored on their first three possessions of the second half.

In the first half, Lindale managed to keep things close thanks to the accurate arm of quarterback David Slice, who had TD tosses of 39, 43, 29 and 17 yards.

But needing a comeback in the fourth period, Slice was intercepted three times on three straight Eagle possessions.

Lindale running back Aaron Jackson had a game in his own right, rushing 20 times for 173 yards.

As Tolbert began to pile up the yardage, the Dragons saw little need to pass and in fact, quarterback Bryce Matthews on attempted two the entire night.

The Eagles were their own worst enemy in the penalty department, getting flagged nine times for 110 yards.

Lindale will take on Ennis in the bi-district round of the playoffs at Mesquiteʼs Hanby Stadium next Friday night at 7:30. Nacogdoches faces Mansfield Summit at a time and site to be determined.