After a 76-21 blowout loss to the No. 3-ranked Dixie Rebels in the 12th Anuual Dixie Rotary Bowl, Lackawanna Junior College could build a strong case for a name change - perhaps "Lackadefense" or "Lackaoffense" or the all-encompassing "Lackalotta."
In all fairness to the visiting Falcons, who were ranked No. 8 nationally coming into Saturday's contest, they caught Dixie quarterback Jeremiah DeLlamas and wide receiver Cory Grow on a day each called their "best game all season."Grow, a Hunter High product, garnered MVP honors with five catches for 186 yards and four tocuhdowns, while DeLlamas, a Springville standout, made a strong bid for the honor by going 13-of-25 for 376 yards and six touchdowns in the rout over the Falcons.
"DeLlamas was right on the money today," Grow said.
DeLlamas echoed similar thoughts.
"He's the money man," DeLlamas said of Grow.
The Rebels, primarily known as a rushing team that has produced such runners as Corey Dillon (University of Washington, Cincinnati Bengals) and Kalin Hall (BYU, CFL's Las Vegas Posse), did just the opposite Saturday with 379 yards passing. But according to Dixie coach Greg Croshaw, it's not uncommon for the Rebels to pass - especially in bowl games.
"We set up everything with the run and we have the capability to throw," he said. "In bowl games it seems like we've had more quarterbacks and wide receivers named MVPs than running backs."
Eric Lockhart, who led the Rebels with more than 800 yards this season, rushed for just 33 yards and two scores before leaving in the second half because of an ankle sprain. George Gordon led the Rebels with 116 yards on 19 carries and one tocuhdown.
Taking away an effective Dixie running game was the plan for Lackawanna coach Mark Duda.
"We thought if we took away their running game we could win," he said, "but they threw the ball over the top of us."
The Falcons scored first, on an 80-yard pass to Mike Szochet, who was named the Lackawanna MVP. But from then on it was all Dixie.
DeLlamas had four tocuhdown passes in the first half - three to Grow (43, 49 and 29 yards) and one to Morgan Bingham (28 yards). Lockhart added touchdown runs of 11 and 4 yards in the second quarter, while Szochet added a 32-yard run and Levar Young added a 3-yard run for the Falcons.
Dixie led 42-21 at the half.
DeLlamas added a TD pass to Grow (46 yards) and Cleavon Brooks (11 yards) in the second half, while Bingham, Gordon and Johnny Journey netted TD runs of 11, 5 and 48 yards, respectively.
The Rebels finished with 642 yards total offense, while the Falcons had 314 yards.
The 72 points were the most scored in a bowl game. Coffeyville (Kansas), had the record when it beat the Rebels 60-36 in the 1993 Rotary Bowl.
With their fourth straight Rotary Bowl victory, the Rebels move to 11-1, while the Falcons fall to 8-4.