BOCA RATON – The Boca Raton Bowl was a relatively close one from start to finish.
Last night’s (Dec. 20) showcase was not officially decided until the final minute, as Toledo (9-5 final record) found a way to withstand a late rally from Liberty (8-5 final record) in its 21-19 win at FAU Stadium.
Here’s how it went down.
Down 7-3 at halftime, the Rockets tightened up and let their offense get to work. There were three scoring drives from them that eventually led to a 21-7 lead with 10:35 left.
Toledo quarterback Dequan Finn (16-of-24, 133 yards, 1 touchdown; 17 carries for 23 yards and 1 touchdown) was poised for the most part, as he found Lenny Kuhl for a 4-yard touchdown pass with 8:45 left in the third quarter. An extra point by kicker Thomas Cluckey gave Toledo a 10-7 lead.
The Toledo defense held Liberty’s offense in check throughout the third frame, giving their offense an opportunity to extend their team’s lead further.
This happened on the next offensive series for Toledo, which recovered a lost Liberty fumble at their 8-yard line.
Four plays later, Cluckey connected on a 29-yard field goal to give Toledo a 13-7 lead.
After Toledo withstood a Liberty drive that resulted in a missed field goal, it ate up seven minutes of the clock. The offense went 10 plays for 80 yards, resulting in Finn’s 1-yard scoring run to extend the Toledo lead to 19-7.
The most important play of this game was a two-point conversion shovel pass from Finn to running back Jacquez Stuart, who went almost untouched to the end zone for a 21-7 lead with 10:35 left.
While Toledo did not score again, its defense came through when it mattered most.
Liberty quarterback (12-for-20, 84 yards, 1 touchdown) found an open Treon Sibley for a 29-yard touchdown pass to cut Toledo’s lead to 21-13 with 7:24 left. But the extra point was no good.
And then Liberty had another shot to complete its comeback later on, as CJ Daniels used a trick play to find Bentley Hanshaw for a 67-yard touchdown pass with 3:40 left. But the two-point conversion failed, which made a huge difference in this one.
From that point on, Toledo ran the clock out, using runs from Stuart (23 carries, 111 yards) to seal the deal.
Toledo head coach Jason Candle spoke on Stuart’s effort.
“Grinded it out, tough, offensive yards, not the biggest guy on the football field. Certainly can’t be judged by his size,” Candle said. “You can see the toughness, the effort, the heart that he ran the football with and throughout the fourth quarter. Credit to our offensive line and those guys on the edge, those guys setting the edge.
And the guy to my right is always a threat to run it as well. Keeps the defense honest on the back side of it.”
Candle had more to say about the Miami-Dade County product.
“Really proud of Jac,” Candle continued. “Jac came to us as a guy from Miami Northwestern High School down here in South Florida. The guys that play at the west, they have an aura about them and a confidence about them. They expect to win at all times and that type of energy and that type of attitude is infectious.”
Candle spoke on how Toledo came back from its 7-3 halftime deficit to Liberty.
“I would point back to the last drive in the second quarter,” Candle said. “We got the ball across mid-field and it’s pouring down rain at that time. We take a negative yardage play and we punt the ball, and that is not in my DNA. It pains me to do that. But knowing we had the football coming out in third quarter in the first possession, I knew that we had to have a pretty good plan at halftime on how we were going to gain some yards and at least flip the field position, if not get a score.”
Candle had more to say.
“So to get a score, and again, a couple key drives in that drive,” Candle continued. “One that sticks out is the flap to Jamal Turner, flipped it out to him right there in front of me in the high red zone. I thought that was a huge play. And to be able to close it out there, I thought was really, really good.”
Finn on the successful two-point conversion in the fourth quarter:
“It was really a momentum boost for us,” Finn said. “Just, what was it, 19 points. If they would have scored, they would have had 19, which they did, and have 19 points, later on down the quarter. That was just a huge play for us, just reading it, that was a defensive end read. Had to read the defensive end. He went outside, he contained me. Just opened up for Jacquez, opened up for him. That was really good.”
Candle spoke on the Boca Raton Bowl experience and more.
“This is our second time being here at this Bowl game,” Candle said. “This has been a first-class experience both times. I think one time — to do it once is one thing. But to replicate it, I think it’s is really difficult. From the police escort everywhere you go to the hospitality to the hotel to how you’re treated at the luncheon. You go to some of these places, and the luncheon is four hours long. It’s a quick meal. There’s a great message. Everything gets done to the T.”
Candle had more to say.
“They move, they shake, they do what they have go to do to make a great experience for these players,” Candle said of the Boca Raton Bowl staff. “And really to be honest with you, at the end of the day, as long as these guys have a great time, that’s all I really care about. So this senior class gets to go out, you know, with a bang, and last time they put a midnight blue and gold jersey on was a win.”
SIDE NOTE: Toledo won the MAC Championship, which in part led to this rising program being selected to play in this year’s Boca Raton Bowl.
PHOTO CREDITS: Christian Proscia
