LINDALE – After three consecutive heartbreaking losses, the Lindale Eagles were finally able to celebrate Friday night.

A 41-25 win over rival Whitehouse, combined with losses from Corsicana and Nacogdoches on Friday, assured the Eagles of the final playoff spot in District 16-5A for this season.

The win, which evened Lindale's season record to 5-5, put the Eagles' league mark at 3-4. One of those district wins came over Corsicana on Sept. 25, which turned out to be the tiebreaker for the playoffs.

Lindale will now take on Marshall at 1 p.m. Saturday at Pine Tree's Pirate Stadium in Longview.

On Friday night at Eagle Stadium, the Wildcats gave Lindale all it wanted for the better part of three quarters.

Whitehouse built a 19-17 halftime lead on a couple of long touchdown passes from junior quarterback Tanner Roach and a 95-yard kickoff return by Isaac Little.

Roach hit DeMonte Else on the first play from scrimmage on a 60-yard score and with 4:36 left in the first period, he connected with running back Shemar Smith on a 68-yard score.

Meanwhile, Lindale tied the game on its first possession as well, as Montana Meador hit Kendrick Price with a 46-yard touchdown pass. Two possessions later, the Eagles went ahead on a 14 yard pass from Tayton Williams to Cameron Sir Louis.

Williams took the second half kickoff 56 yards to the Whitehouse 39 and once again, Sir Louis was on the receiving end of a touchdown pass, this one from nine yards out from Meador.

Whitehouse then picked off Meador at the Eagle 36 and four plays later, Eddie Godina booted a 22-yard field goal to trim the Lindale margin to 24-22.

Lindale’s running game, bolstered by Ryan Taylor – who rushed for 129 yards on 27 carries and now has 1,145 yards on the season – and Williams began to assert itself.

The Eagles ate up precious time on the clock en route to their fourth touchdown of the game, a one-yard plunge from Taylor to give Lindale a 31-22 lead.

A 40-yard field goal from Godina made it 31-25 a few minutes later, but on the Eagles’ next drive on facing a third-and-10 from his own 43, Meador sprinted to his right and delivered a perfect first down pass to Price at the Whitehouse 29.

Then with 3:07 left, Meador clinched the game and a playoff spot with a 1-yard plunge.

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