Cougarpolitan - Crosby ISD

Justin Kelm
Reporter
Sports
Super Bowl
XXXXIII
On Sunday February 1 st 2009
the Super Bowl went down at
Raymond James Stadium in
Tampa Bay Florida. The game
was between the Arizona
Cardinals from the NFC and
the Pittsburg Steelers from
the AFC. The Cardinals were
led into the Super Bowl by
veteran Quarterback Kurt
Warner and Wide Receivers
Larry “Fitz” Fitzgerald
and Anquan Boldin. The
Cardinals were riding one
heck of a wave considering
they were blown out of the
water in their previous game
against the New England
Patriots 47-7 coming into
the playoffs. Coach Ken
Whisenhunt said after the win
against the Atlanta Falcons
in the NFC Wild Card Game
that “Something changed
on the way back home after
the New England game and
that we hope we can keep it
going.” The success continued
when the Cardinals traveled
to Carolina to take on the
Panthers. The Cardinals
defense made Carolina
Quarterback Jake Delhomee
commit 5 interceptions and
fumble the ball away once.
The Cardinals won the game
33-13 and Wide Receiver
Larry Fitzgerald keep his
TD receptions coming. The
Cardinals advanced past
the NFC Divisional round
and faced the unlikely
Philadelphia Eagles in the
NFC Championship game.
This was a rematch from the
Thanksgiving game in which
the Eagles won. But this time
the Eagles were on the losing
end. The Cardinals offense
was stellar and Quarterback
Kurt Warner had 4 Passing
Touchdowns in which he
connected up with Wide
Receiver Larry Fitzgerald
three times. The Cardinals
won the game 32-25 and
advanced to the Super Bowl
for the first time in 62 years.
The Pittsburg Steelers crawled
their way into the Super Bowl
by knocking off Wild Card
winner San Diego 35-24.
The Steelers advanced past
the AFC Divisional Round
into the AFC Championship
game against the Baltimore
Ravens who won previously
by knocking off the best team
in the NFL, the Tennessee
Titans with a last second kick
to win the game 13-10. The
Steelers owned the Ravens all
night and wound up winning
the game 24-13, advancing
the Steelers to their 6 th Super
Bowl appearance in their
franchises history. Super Bowl
XXXXIII started off with the
Arizona Cardinals taking on
the Pittsburg Steelers. A year
ago the Cardinals would have
not been favored to make
the playoffs let alone make
the Super Bowl. The game
started off with Quarterback
Ben Roethlisberger running
into the end zone for a 2
yard touchdown but the
Cardinals challenged the call
and had the play reversed.
The Cardinals defense then
held the Steelers to a 18
yard field goal by Kicker
Jeff Reed making the score
3-0 in favor of the Steelers.
The score remained 3-0 into
the 2 nd quarter when second
year Fullback Gary Russell
scored on a 1 yard rushing
play making the score 10-0
in favor of the Steelers. The
Cardinals finally got onto
the board when Quarterback
Kurt Warner connected up
with Tight End Ben Patrick
making the score Steelers:
10 Cardinals: 7. The game
remained a stalemate until
the 2 minute warning of the
2 nd Quarter. Quarterback
Kurt Warner was on his
own goal line and threw a
Interception that was returned
by Defensive End James
Harrison 100 yards to the
house making the score 17-7
at the half. The Interception
Return was the longest
ever returned in the Super
Bowl’s forty-three years of
its existence. The Half Time
Show was capped off by “The
Boss” Bruce Springsteen and
the East Street band. This half
time show created the biggest
buzz of all the Super Bowl’s
and it lived up to its hype
with Bruce singing about four
songs and one of his newest
songs from his new album
“Working on a Dream.” The
3 rd Quarter kicked off with
the Steelers scorning on a
Jeff Reed 21 yard field goal
making the score Steelers:
20 Cardinals: 7. As the 3 rd
Quarter came to a close the
score was now Steelers:20
Cardianals:7. The Steelers had
been covering the Cardinals
Wide Receivers especially
Larry Fitzgerald all night
but this time Larry snuck
by the Steelers defense and
scored on a 1 yard passing
play by Quarterback Kurt
Warner making the score now
Steelers: 20 Cardinals: 14.The
Steelers had no answer for
the Cardinals as the Cardinals
defense stopped them in
their own end zone forcing
the Steelers to a Safety. The
score was now Steelers:
20 Cardinals: 16 with 5:28
left on the clock in the 4 th
quarter. The Cardinals got
the ball back and took the
lead with a 64 yard passing
play from Quarterback Kurt
“Never Will Get Old” Warner
to Larry “Fitz” Fitzgerald.
The score was now Steelers:
20 Cardinals: 23 with 2:58
left in the 4 th Quarter. The
Steelers had to answer by
scoring a field goal to tie
the game or go for the win
with a touchdown. The
Steelers elected to go for the
touchdown and win the game.
Pittsburg Quarterback Ben
Roethlisberger stormed down
the field and threw a 6 yard
passing touchdown to Wide
Receiver Santonio Holmes
with 42 seconds left in the
4 th Quarter. The score was
now Steelers: 27 Cardinals:
23. The Cardinals had one
last shot to score but had no
answer for the Steelers sacked
Quarterback Kurt Warner and
caused him to fumble the ball
with 15 seconds left in the
4 th Quarter. The Steelers won
Super Bowl XXXXIII 27-23
over the Cardinals. The game
came down to the line and the
Super Bowl XXXXIII MVP
was Wide Receiver Santonio
Holmes with his amazing
catch that won the game for
the Steelers.
Wide Receiver Santonio Holmes leaping
for a game winning touchdown.
Photo Courtesy of G.Newman Lowrance/NFL.com
Singer Bruce Springsteen and the East Street Band performing
at Super Bowl 43 in Tampa Bay Flordia. Photo
Courtesy of G. Newman Lowrance/NFL.com