Super Bowl LIV summarized:
This year’s Super Bowl was a highly-anticipated battle between the San Francisco 49ers’ great defense and the Kansas City Chiefs’ high-powered offense led by last year’s MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
In the regular season, the Chiefs averaged 28.2 points per game, placing them fifth. Their coach, Andy Reid, was still looking to win his first Super Bowl to add to his Hall of Fame resume. They had 12 wins and four losses and managed to win a first-round bye for the playoffs. They came back from deficits of more than ten points in their two playoff games, making them ready for the Super Bowl.
On the other hand, the 49ers were looking to win their sixth Super Bowl. Although their second-year head coach did not have much playoff experience, they averaged 29.9 points per game, averaged the second-most rushing yards per game and gave up the eighth least points per game. In the previous season, they had four wins and 12 losses. Their quarterback suffered a season-ending injury. This season, they improved greatly and finished first in the division with 13 wins and three losses.
In the first quarter of the Super Bowl, the 49ers got a field goal. The Chiefs responded with a touchdown to make it 7-3. To end the first half, 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garappolo threw a deep pass to tight end George Kittle. However, it was controversially called off due to offensive pass interference by Kittle. Both teams went into halftime at ten points apiece.
In the second half, the 49ers started to run the ball well just as they did during the rest of the season. Entering the fourth quarter, the 49ers were up 20-10. However, they ran the football less and started to pass it more which helped the Chiefs begin to come back. Mahomes started doing better after a 38-yard completion to wide receiver Sammy Watkins.
A missed touchdown by Garappolo was the end for the 49ers. A final interception by cornerback Kendall Fuller officially finished off the game and gave the Chiefs their first Super Bowl victory in 50 years.
Throughout Montgomery County, teenagers have many Super Bowl Sunday traditions:
Walter Johnson High School freshman Jeremiah Morkre, who watched the game with friends and had a traditional Super Bowl meal of pizza, buffalo wings and chips and salsa, enjoyed the game immensely.
“Patrick Mahomes put up 21 unanswered [points] against a talented defense that had shut down the Chiefs high powered offense in the first half,” Morkre said, “It was satisfying to see Andy Reid win a Super Bowl because he really deserves it after all this time. The Chiefs’ fan base deserves it because it is their first Super Bowl in 50 years.”
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“I watched the super bowl with friends at a friends house,” Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic High School freshman, Michael Hilligoss said, “The game was good because there was a comeback and an interception by a former alumni from my high school.”
Chiefs cornerback Kendall Fuller graduated Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic High School in 2013.
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“I ate chicken wings with rice, and I also made a super bowl cake,” Walter Johnson High School freshman Fiona Galang said, “I think it was a good game because both teams played their very best, and just when everyone thought the 49ers had it [victory], the Chiefs pulled through.”
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“I watched at home with my parents, and I ate pizza with ice cream, Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School freshman Gabe Siegel said, “I thought it was a good game because it was a close game and there was a comeback.”
Article by Andrew Plotnick of Walter Johnson High School
Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons