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Toledo football wins Boca Raton Bowl over Liberty

The Rockets beat the Flames 21-19 to win their first bowl game since 2015, which was also in the Boca Raton Bowl.

BOCA RATON, Fla. — The final chapter has been written in the 2022 season for the Toledo football team and it has a happy ending.

In a season with so many twists and turns, the Rockets won the Boca Raton Bowl on Tuesday defeating Liberty 21-19.

It wasn't easy as Toledo trailed 7-3 at halftime, but they found a way to rally.

Quarterback Dequan Finn shook off a first half injury and threw a touchdown and ran for another in the second half to lead the Rockets.

“It’s very special,” said Finn. “What else can I say? Boca Raton Bowl champs, MAC champs, what else can you ask for?”

“When the toughest moments happened, the brotherhood of this locker room shines through,” said Toledo head coach Jason Candle. “Others would define that as luck, I guess. I would define that as tough times and effort that's working in the dark that has a chance to come to light and it came to light tonight.”

Finn was named the offensive MVP of the game and Nate Givhan was the defensive MVP. He caused a fumble with a key sack in the third quarter that set up a Toledo field goal. 

Clay high school alum Thomas Cluckey kicked two field goals in the game and was named the special teams MVP.

I think tonight's win, (and the MAC championship game), those are culture-type wins,” said Candle. “We define culture as this, it's really simple: It's really what you tolerate and what you celebrate. These guys didn't tolerate a bunch of B.S. all year long, and they celebrated the wins the right way. And hopefully our guys learn that from the senior class as we move forward. So if that happens I think we have got a lot of momentum going into the off-season.”

Finn was 16/24 for 133 yards and a touchdown. Jacquez Stuart ran the football 23 times for 111 yards. The Rockets finished the season at 9-5.

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