10 I The Behrend Beacon
The Steelers make Pittsburgh "Six-burgh"
By Nick Blake
spOns
np! , 5114 -,
AB of the IL\ Ire and build up
has passed. and the NI I has
crowned a new champion. The
Pittsburgh Steclers are Super
XLIII chanirion,
Tampa Riy to the
most watched Super I3ow I e\ er
last week. and fans were orated to
what's being debated as the best
Super Bowl ever played.
The Ariiona Cardinals :Hid tlw
Pittsburgh Steelers met at
Rin f rnonclJarnes Slit(hum on I ch.
I for \\ hat was sure to he a halt le
of epic proportiims.
The Ariiona Cardinal. liar c One
of the most prolific offense , in
the NFL. led h\ everienced ( p ar _
terhaek Kurt Warner and the t 0-
headed monster recei ers of Larn,
Fitzgerald and Anquan
The Pittsburgh Steelers. on the
other hand. have one in the hest
defenses in the NH.. In fact. the\
did have the hest defense in the
league this veal, rankiin2 nuniher
After the numerous pregame
festivities. it gas Imall \ time fur
the game to begin. ]'he Cardinals
\von the coin toss and elected to
defer to the second half. eiv inc
the Steelers the ball to , tart the
.Super / .A L/// MIT .S . OlllOlllO 110111.1 in the gone winning tonduknvn a the eml of the fourth qiuule,
The stand-
ing are
close with
Rachel and
Nick one
win ahead
of Connor.
Christine
follows
closely
behind
while Matt
is still in
last place.
Want to
play?
Email
censos6@ps
u.edu for a
list of next
week's
games to see
if you can
"beat the
experts".
Ilia St~rlrr~ didn't \\ all \
thcir otteil•e 2().111L'
on their lir.t Right
HI the hat. Steclei. quarterback
lien koethlisbergei tOund an open
!hues Wald fair a 38-varci gain to
the Cardinal 32-‘and line.
\ couple running plays to run
n inghock Willie l'aiker and a pass
to tight end I leath Miller to set
up first -and-gotil for the Black and
Gold.
Roethlisheiger took it into his
(\\n hands to ..2et the hall into the
end erne. Roethlisbeiger appeared
his \N, aN, acioss the goal
line. but the Cardinals challenged
the pla\,. Inch revealed Big
Ben's knee hittin2. the eround
Prier reachim_ the end zone.
The Sicelerti .ettled 16r an I f;-yard
field 20 . ,11 from left Reed to take a
3-1) lead.
Cardinitk \\, eren't exactly
on Inc on their lirst offensive
dri \e. Elie\ gained no Narslage on
tlwir Inst plan. On second skmn.
quanerhach Kurt Warner hit \side
lecei \ tite\e Breaston for a 10-
sand gain. but iped away
due to a holding penalts. After
that. the\ couldn't oct and
\\ere forced to punt.
l'he Black and Gold kept it
comiml \\ it h their oftenseive
machine 'mining. Roethlishergei
\\ as still hot. lindimi wick! receiv
Beat The Experts
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
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Miami (1:1J , 0 /0 Duke
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Penn State ((i Nlichiedn
# l 3 Pin vi Runler,
/03 DePaul (a 1119 Noire Dume Notre. D
//8 N ("Iwolina /14 linke
-1112 Tennessee (a ft I 3 Flori( Li
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!Amu Beach St. ui Pacilic
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Season Totals:
er Santonio Holmes !Or a 25-yard
gain. On the following play, the
Steelers were tagged with a fake
start penalty hacking them up.
The Steelers were unable to get
much going, and were torced into
a third-and-ten situation.
Roethlisberger was un d er pressure
hut was able to escape, hitting
Miller for an I I-yard gain and a
first down.
After another 11-yard pass to
Miller and an eight-yard run by
Parker. the Steelers were again
knocking at the door. The
Steelers worked their way to the
one-yard line where they faced
another third-and-goal situation.
They would find pay dirt this
time when runningback Gary
Russel pounded his way across
the goal line giving the Steelers a
104) lead.
th itd-anckwal
With the offense that the
Cardinals were equipped with,
there was no way that they were
going to lay down for the
Steelers.
blamer came through with a
huge play to Boldin which netted
45-yards to the Steeled one-yard
line. Warner threw a pass to Ben
Patrick who made an amazing
catch in the end zone, cutting the
lead to 10-7.
On the next two dives, the
teams were deadlocked, with nei
ther team able to get anything
Connot
W.V.U. W.V.O
Ruhiet
Setson
Mercer
Penn. ST. Mich
R onn
Pact tic
LIC Ri‘
Seattle
32-21 28-25
SPORTS
Rachel
Penn. St. Penn. St
W. V. U
Rutgers
Rutgers
USC U
USC U
Jackson
Jackson
N. Fla
Penn. St
Notre. D
iNlot re D
UConn
UC on n
L.B. St
L.B. St
LIC Riv
UC Day
Seattle
N. Dak
33-20
On the Steelers next posses
sion. Roethlisberger had a pass
tipped by Cardinals' defensive
lineman Bryan Robinson. which
ended up being picked off by line
backer Karlos Dansby at the
Steelers 33-yard line.
The Steelers forced two incom
plete passes from Warner on the
first two plays of the drive. but
the Cardinals would strike.
thirdOn down, Warner hit run
ning back Tim Hightower I'm a
first down. With back-to-hack
passes to Fitzgerald and Bolan.
the Cardinals were on the one
yard line and were poised to go
into halftime with the lead.
Warner dropped back for a pass
to the end zone and was intercept
ed by the NFL's Defensive Player
of the Year, linebacker James
Harrison. With some athletic
moves and key blocks from team
mates, Harrison returned the
interception lOU yards for a pick
six. It was the longest play in
Super Bowl history.
"It was very tiring, but it was
all worth it. I was just thinking
that I had to do whatever I could
to get to the other end zone and
get seven. I just wanted to help
my team win. That was it. That
was all I was thinking about."
Harrison said.
This Was the final play of the
Christine Nick
Penn. St
Provid
Rutgers
Setson
Jackson
Penn St
Notre. D
UConn
L.B. St
UC Day
N. Dak
30-23
first half, giving the Steelers a
17-7 lead at halftime.
The Cardinals got the ball to
start the second half and they got
it moving. Warner got the ball to
Boldin and then running,back
Edgerrin James wheeled off three
straight runs that totaled 19 yards.
The Steeler defense slammed
the door shut. though, allowing
just two short gains and forcing
an incomplete pass on the third
down play. This forced the
Cardinals into a punt.
To start the drive, Holmes
broke out for a six-yard reception,
and a facemask penalty against
the Cardinals added 15 yarth; to
the play.
Roethlisberger kept going to
the air, hitting tight end Matt
Spaeth and wide receiver Hines
Ward. On another passing play.
Roethlisberger was hit late and
the Steelers were given 15 yards
from a roughing the passer penal
ty.
Parker then trotted for 15 yards.
giving the Steelers another new
set of downs. They were kept out
of the end zone, though, and set
tled for a 27-yard field goal from
Reed giving them a 20-7 lead
with 2:16 left in the third quarter.
This was the Super Bowl and
the Cardinals still weren't fin
ished. Warner led his offense
down the field on an outstanding
chive. He completed all eight of
his passes on the 87-yard drive
which was capped off by a one
yard, acrobatic catch by
Fitzgerald, cutting the lead to 20-
14.
The Cardinals got the ball back
after holding the Steelers, hut
were unable to get going. But
they pinned the Steelers on their
own one-yard line on a magnili
cent punt.
On third tbwn, Steelers• center
Justin Hartwig was flagged tor
holding in the end zone. The
penalty resulted in a safety cut
ting an already slim lead to 20-
16.
After the free kick from the
Black and Gold. the Cardinals'
offense wasted no time diving
down the field. Warner found
Fitzgerald down the middle and he
was off to the races and a touch
down giving the Cardinals their
first lead of the game 23-20, with
2:35 left to play.
The Steelers still had some
tight in them. Roethlisberger was
able to drive his offense down
field, scramble after scramble and
pump fake after pump fake.
The Steelers were able to work
their way inside the Cardinals'
10-yard line with time running
out.
W. V U
Rutgers
Setson
Mercer
N. Fla
Penn. St
Notre D
UConn
Pacific
UC Riv
N. Dak
33-20
Friday, February 6, 2009
Wille Colon takes in the win tonongst the confetti
With :35 left in the game.
Roethl isberger was able to thread
a perfect pass through three
defenders to Holmes in the back
of the end zone who made a tip
toe catch to give the Black and
Gold a 27-23 lead.
The Cardinals had one more
but while Warner was
preparing to unleash a last ditch,
Hail Mary pass, he was stripped
by line hacker Lamar Woodley
and the Steelers recoverd the fum
ble.
chance
The final score Wilti 27-23 giv
ing the Steelers their NFL fran
chise record sixth Super Bowl
title.
Holmes was named MVP of
the game racking up nine catches
for 131 yards and the gtune-win-
ning touchdown
"It was a play we drew up that
we were hoping to get open in the
corner. The defensive back bit up
on the short route and Ben
(Rethlisberger) held onto the
ball long enough to get it to me."
Holmes said.
Troy Polamala found the final
five minutes of the came to he
very gut wrenching
"Oh my God. 1 don't know.
You can't explain it. You sec
onds away from me crying in the
locker room. itnd them being out
here. That's how amazing this
game is," Polamalu said.
Wad had faith in his team and
was proud of how they were able
to comeback.
It speaks volumes about our
team. We never gave up. To come
hack and win like that, is just
unbelievable. - Ward said.
Head coach Mike Tomlin won
his first Super Bowl in his second
year in the league, but knew he
could win it, and could see him
self winnini2. it.
"That's what we all work for.
That's the planning that we put in
for it, like 31 other guys.
Somebody's going to be the one.
and I'm just thankful that it's us
this year. - said Tomlin.
This Super Bowl was the most
watched television program in
U.S. history with a total audience
of 151.6 million viewers. The
two teams didn't disappoint.
Super Bowl XLIII is being
debated as being the best Super
Bowl ever. It very well may be,
and it is sure that there will be
more great ones to follow.
Don't forget to catch all of your
favorite NFL all-stars in this
year's Pro Bowl. The game will
be in Honolulu, Hawaii on Feb.
8 at 4:30 p.m. on NBC.
PHOTO