SPORTS
Super Bowl for Dummies
In case you didn’t know, Super Bowl Sunday is upon us whether you watch football or not.
While every football fan is guaranteed to tune in, Super Bowl Sunday has become a sort of mini-holiday for people, a good enough excuse for people to throw a party.
There are many better Super Bowl previews out there for the hardcore football fanatics who have watched games every Sunday for since the start of preseason in August. This is not for those people.
If you are one of those people where the bits and pieces of the Super Bowl you catch every year are the only football you watch that does not include a family member playing in it, this is for you.
If you want a rooting interest on either team based more than on which jersey design appeals to your sense of style, here is the quick run down.
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas Chiefs are the slight favorites heading into the game, but not by much and they aren’t your typical favorites if you always like cheering for the underdogs.
The Chiefs last won the Super Bowl in 1970. It is also the last time they have been to the big game.
The team is a fun one. The Chiefs have one of the highest scoring offenses in the league and throw the ball a lot. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes is a young (24-years-old) super star in the making with no personal baggage to make him unlikable. He also was born and raised in Texas and attended Texas Tech if that wins you over.
The other fun story is Head Coach Andy Reid. While he has consistently been one of the best coaches in the league for the last two decades, his playoff failures and his loss in the one Super Bowl he has been in has led to people writing him off.
A win on Sunday will completely alter his legacy and will probably lead him to the Hall of Fame no matter what happens afterwards. In case you hold it against him he was the coach of the Philadelphia Eagles for most of the 2000s, he is an easy guy to root for as well.
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers were the surprise team of the season, which is why even though they come in with the better record of the two teams, (13-3 compared to 12-4) they are slight underdogs.
To put it in perspective, the 49ers won less games (12) in the past three seasons combined than they did this year. San Francisco last made the playoffs in 2014.
The biggest change was the health of potential franchise quarterback Jimmy Garappolo. He has missed large portions of the last two years after the team traded for him.
While he hasn’t played like one of the league’s elite like Mahomes, he played well in his first full season, which was a big upgrade from the guys the team has trotted out the last few years. He is also an objectively good looking guy if you want to go that angle.
Still, this team has succeeded thanks to having one of the top rated defenses in the league. The biggest name you might have heard of is cornerback Richard Sherman, who you might have seen yelling in a post game interview that went viral after a game back in 2014.
Despite his aggressive appearance in that interview, background on Sherman shows he made it out of Compton, CA not just on his ability on the football field but in the classroom, earning salutatorian honors before attending Stanford. He’s a classic don’t judge a book by its cover athlete who won a Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks earlier this decade.
San Francisco is going to want to make it a boring game if it wants to win. Despite Garappolo playing well this season, in the playoffs the team has relied heavily on running the ball with a trio of running backs that are solid if unspectacular.
The one who has made the most news recently is Raheem Mostert, who rushed for more than 200 yards in the previous game to help the team get to the Super Bowl. His is a classic Cinderella story, having been cut by six teams before finding a place with the 49ers.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
Nocona
The Nocona Indians picked up dominant wins against Chico in their series against the Dragons last week.
The Indians won both games 11-0 by run-rule after five innings to get their first district wins of the season.
Nocona was coming off losing both games against Lindsay the previous week in its first district series and bounced back in a big way.
In the first game at home last week, the Indians scored six runs in the first inning and five in the third inning which proved to be all the offense they needed.
Kutter Cabrera led the team with three RBIs while Miller Jentry was second with two RBIs. The team finished with nine hits and drew eight walks.
On the mound, Walker Murphey pitched a shut out while striking out seven and allowing three hits. Defensively, the team committed one fielding error.
The second game saw Nocona score all of its runs in the first three innings, highlighted by scoring six runs in the second inning.
Murphey hit a three-run home run to lead the team while Brody Langford and Landon Fatheree each had two RBIs.
On the mound RJ Walker had a big day, throwing a perfect four innings which means he did not allow a hit or walk anyone. He also struck out eight batters, which put him over 100 career strikeouts in high school. The defense committed no fielding errors.
Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Panthers lost their series against Bryson last week.
The first game was a close 3-0 loss, but the second game was 11-0, done after four and half innings due to run-rule.
The Panthers were coming off close losses to Perrin-Whitt from the previous week. They were hoping they could turn their fortune around playing another 1A program.
Unfortunately in the first game, the Cowboys got off to a good start, scoring three runs in the first inning, with two coming with two outs due to an error and a dropped third strike.
Saint Jo’s pitching and defense tightened up after that to not allow another run in the final six innings. Unfortunately, the Panthers had only two hits and four base runners all game as they lost the close game 3-0.
Charlie Evans and Rylan Forrest had the only two hits for Saint Jo in the game as the team struck out 18 times. Trent Gaston ended the game allowing three runs (one earned) on six hits while striking out five batters and walking two in six innings of work. The defense committed five fielding errors.
Unfortunately, things did not go as well several days later in game two. Bryson scored three runs in both the first and second innings before scoring five runs in the third inning. Saint Jo was not able to get a hit and drew two walks in the game.
The Panther defense committed six fielding errors which led to only three of the 11 runs given up were earned by the pitching staff who gave up five hits, walked six and hit four batters.
Bellevue
The Bellevue Eagles played Perrin-Whitt last week in a series.
The Pirates won the first game 11-1 by run-rule and the second game score was not updated on Game Changer.
The Eagles were coming off one-sided losses to Bryson the previous week in their first district series and was hoping to play better.
Bellevue did get out to an early lead in the first inning. River Trail hit an RBI single in the top of the first inning to go up 1-0, which proved to be the highlight of the game.
Perrin-Whitt scored three runs in the first inning, one in the second inning, two in the fourth inning and five in the fifth inning to win 11-1.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
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