Pine Tree Takes Advantage of Lindale Turnovers in 51-21 Victory

LINDALE – Pine Tree cashed in five costly Lindale turnovers and cruised to a 51-21 decision over the Eagles on Friday night at Eagle Stadium.

The Pirates got scoring passes of 41, 30 and 8 yards from quarterback Dalvin Manns and two rushing touchdowns from running back Quay Ward to subdue the Eagles, who fell to 1-4 on the season. Pine Tree is now 4-1 on the year.

Manns completed 12 of 19 passes for 220 yards as the Pirates built a 30-14 halftime lead, taking advantage of Lindale miscues along the way.

The Eagles looked to be in prime position to strike first as they moved from their own 7-yard line to the Pirate 12, but Lindale quarterback Nash Walters was intercepted by Pine Tree linebacker Irving Shen.

Shen was all over the field for the Pirates, as he had two fumble recoveries and a blocked pass to go along with his drive-killing interception.

Junior wide out Doug Morgan gave the Pirates their first lead after hauling in a 41-yard scoring strike from Manns with 38 seconds left in the first period.

Pine Tree increased the lead to 14-0 on a 19 yard run from Manns on its next possession before Lindale got on the board with a 3-yard burst from Delenis Garrett.

The junior Lindale back carried the ball 23 times for 159 yards, while Walters, who was forced to go to the air more in the second half because of the Eagles’ deficit, connected on 16 of 35 passes for 194 yards.

Lindale had four fumbles and an interception, with the costliest fumble occurring when the Eagles tried to fool the Pirates with a swinging gate formation at midfield.

But the Pirates’ Dakota Lynn wasn’t fooled and he stepped in front of the snap – which was directed to the group of Lindale players to the snappers’ left – and set sail on a 47-yard scoring run.

This pushed the Pirate advantage to 37-14 and for all practical purposes settled the issue for the night.