nt in those guys as we did last year and throughout this year."

Dallas, TX - Kenneth Dixon finished with two touchdowns to lift Louisiana Tech to a 35-18 victory over Illinois in the Heart of Dallas Bowl at Cotton Bowl Stadium on Friday. Dixon rushed for 63 yards on 13 carries and also caught an 80-yard touchdown pass for the Bulldogs (9-5), who won their first bowl game since 2008. These football players have accomplished so much in this year, and (in) a year that no one expected much out of them with so many new faces and young guys, said Louisiana Tech head coach Skip Holtz. The way that they came in here, the way they competed, and the way we grew as a football team during the course of the year, this was the opportunity to finish this season the right way. And I couldnt be more proud of this football team, the way they competed. Cody Sokol completed 14-of-28 passes for 247 yards and a score and Blake Martin and Jarred Craft each added rushing touchdowns in the win. Reilly OToole threw for 290 yards on 23-of-38 passing with a touchdown pass to Jon Davis and an interception, while Donovonn Young had a rushing score for the Illini (6-7). Illinois made it a one-possession game midway through the third quarter. OToole avoided another three-and-out as he connected with Geronimo Allison on a 19-yard pass on 3rd-and-13. After a roughing the passer call kept the Bulldogs on the field and a 15-yard catch from Allison, Young ran for 11 yards down to the 3-yard line and plunged into the end zone for a 21-15 game with 6:04 remaining in the third. Kyle Fischer missed a 44-yard field goal for the Bulldogs on the next series, but Illinois David Reisner fared better after he got a favorable bounce off the right upright for a 43-yard field goal to cap a 10-play, 49-yard march and make it a 21-18 game less than a minute into the final stanza. The Fighting Illini appeared to get a break during the following possession as LaKeith Walls knocked the ball out of Sokols hands. Jihad Ward recovered the ball, but fumbled and Sokol came up with it to give the Bulldogs a fresh set of downs at their own 16. Five plays later, Dixon blasted through the line and into the end zone for a 28-18 score with 6:15 remaining. After holding Illinois to a three-and-out, Martin found a hole on the left side and ran 28 yards untouched into the end zone to cap the scoring for the Bulldogs with 3:43 to play. Louisiana Tech started the scoring on its second drive of the day. Dixons explosive 28-yard dash to Illinois 35 kick-started the march. After Sokol ran for nine yards, his throw on 4th-and-1 was off the mark, but the drive was extended by a holding penalty. Craft ran 16 yards was tackled just inside the pylon on the next play to make it a 7-0 game midway through the first. On Illinois ensuing drive, Mike Dudeks 50-yard run pushed the Fighting Illini deep into Louisiana Tech territory to help set up an eventual 27-yard field goal from Taylor Zalewski. The Bulldogs needed just one play to extend their lead. Sokol hit Dixon in stride with a pass on the right side and Dixon raced 80 yards down the field for a 14-3 score. Davis then sprinted across the middle of the field and hauled in a pass for a 25-yard touchdown to finish off a 5-play, 65-yard trek with 11:15 to play in the second. Zalewskis extra-point kick was no good after it hit off the upright. Xavier Woods picked off OTooles pass over the middle and took it back 69 yards to give Louisiana Tech a 21-9 lead after finishing off the play with a spectacular dive into the end zone with 7:20 to play in the second. I think theyve been very, very opportunistic in what theyve done this year, Illinois head coach Tim Beckman said of Louisiana Tech. I think thats the mark of a pretty darn good football team. They hit us with some long opportunistic plays, getting the ball to the two guys they wanted to get the ball to and, you know, weve just got to be able to stop those better. So, no question, those were big huge plays in this football game. After an intentional grounding penalty made it 3rd-and-23 for the Fighting Illini, Dudek made an 11-yard catch before David Reisners kick from 46 yards out veered wide left with 1:07 left in the first half. Game Notes Dixon now has 3,410 career yards rushing, surpassing Daniel Porter for the most in school history ... Dixon has scored at least one touchdown in all 14 games this season ... Bulldogs defensive end Houston Bates had a monster game, compiling 5 1/2 sacks and seven tackles ... Louisiana Tech won the only other meeting between the two meetings by a 52-24 score on Sept. 22, 2012 ... The Bulldogs defeated Northern Illinois, 17-10, in the Independence Bowl on Dec. 28, 2008 ... Illinois outgained Louisiana Tech, 441-361. Cheap Saints Jerseys .com) - Wayne Simmonds, Scott Laughton and Jakub Voracek each posted a goal and an assist as the Philadelphia Flyers thumped the Carolina Hurricanes, 5-1, on Saturday. Cheap Saints Jerseys China . Helwani said that Weidman has been dealing with recurring swelling and pain in his knees related to torn meniscus he suffered as a teenager and the problems came to a head last week when he suffered prolonged swelling and pain in his left knee, resulting in the decision to undergo an arthroscopic scope procedure to clean up the tear in both knees. http://www.cheapsaintsjerseyselite.com/ . - The Raiders have released guard Mike Brisiel after two disappointing seasons in Oakland. Cheap New Orleans Saints Jerseys . Jacob Jacques, Andrew Ryan and Jonathan Drouin also scored for Halifax (37-18-3), who outshot the Islanders 40-26. Kevin Darveau stopped 25 shots. Bradley Kennedy had the lone goal for Charlottetown (18-33-5), which has nine losses in its last 10 games. Erik McCoy Jersey . The whole deflation of New England Patriots footballs is like a murder mystery without the violence or significance. On one side, this is a ridiculous issue.MIAMI - During the dog days of the regular season, the Miami Heat often spoke about the need to not take any shortcuts on the way to the playoffs. And thats true. That doesnt mean they necessarily enjoyed the 82-game run-up to the best time of year. "None of us," Heat forward LeBron James finally confessed, "are here for the regular season." When this core of Heat players was assembled, the only stated goal was winning NBA titles, which also explains why even getting through the first two rounds of these playoffs basically unscathed only merited a short celebration. Miami is back in the Eastern Conference finals for the fourth straight season, and will visit Indiana in Game 1 on Sunday afternoon. The Heat got there by ousting the Brooklyn Nets in five games, the end of that series Wednesday night being briefly accompanied by a few hoots and hollers in the immediate moments after the clinching 96-94 win was completed. Before long, order was restored to the Heat locker room. Two series wins are nice, but they know the road only gets tougher from here. "Like LeBron said, to be in this position four years in a row, this is the reason we came together four years ago," Heat guard Dwyane Wade said. "Weve got a lot more work to do but were a team that doesnt take it for granted. Were a team that worked very hard to get to this point, so were going to go to the next round, the Eastern Conference finals and continue to do what weve done, play this game as hard as we can and try to continue to move forward." Indiana ousted Washington on Thursday night. The Heat and Pacers split four meetings in the regular season. "We know what Indianas capable of," Heat forward Chris Bosh said. "Best defence in the league. Despite their struggles, we still see the same opponent in those guys as we did last year and throughout this year." The Heat are now 32-7 in first- and second-round games in the last four postseasons, that stretch coinciding with the start of the "Big 3"; era featuring James, Wade and Bosh teaming up in Miami.dddddddddddd That first year, even that star-studded trio wasnt enough. More pieces were added, like Shane Battier a year later and Ray Allen two years later, and theyve all paid dividends since. Allen kept coming up big at big times in the Brooklyn series, hitting clutch free throws to seal Game 4 and then knocking down a 3-pointer with 32 seconds left to put Miami ahead for good in Game 5. Never mind that Allen had missed 11 of his last 12 3-point tries in the series. Just like last year when he saved Miamis season with the legendary desperation 3-pointer in Game 6 of the NBA Finals against San Antonio, when the stakes were highest, Allen came through. "We did what we needed to do, when we had to do it," Allen said. "Total team effort." Miami had trailed for the entire second half of Game 5 against the Nets until that 3-pointer by Allen, a shot set up by Mario Chalmers seeing that Brooklyns Shaun Livingston was charging at him and somehow leaving the best long-range shooter in the history of the game wide open. That was the only break Miami needed. "The most important thing is to stay in the moment," Battier said. "And I dont there is anyone maybe in the history of the game who does it better than Ray Allen." Added Chalmers: "Thats a great option when you know you have the all-time greatest 3-point shooter to your left." A year ago, the Heat needed seven games to beat Indiana in the East finals, then seven more to top San Antonio for their second straight NBA title. Thursday was a rest day for Miami, maybe one of the last ones the Heat will truly have before the season ends. On Friday, the real work starts in earnest. "We still have some business to take care of," James said. "But its great to be able to put ourselves in position to get to where we want to go. We never shortcut the process. We understand that each and every game is going to be a challenge for us." 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