by Ryan Collins, Will Eimas-Deitrich, and Terrence Echols
Staff Writers
The 50th Super Bowl, which is the largest sporting event in America, took place on Sunday, Feb 7. Super Bowl 50 was an exciting defensive battle between the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers. Despite not being favored, Denver came out victorious with a score of 24-10 in what could be the last game for Bronco’s quarterback Peyton Manning. Numerous members of the Jamesville-DeWitt High School community took notice of not only the game, but the half-time show, the hype and the commercials surrounding this year’s Super Bowl.
The game started off with a quick 53-yard drive by the Broncos that ended with kicker Brandon McManus nailing a 34-yard field goal. The Panthers first possession ended in a strip sack for game MVP Von Miller that lead to a “scope and score” when defensive lineman Malik Jackson picked up the ball and ran into the endzone to make it a quick 10-0 in favor of the Broncos. Later in the second quarter the Panthers found the endzone for the first and last time. Carolina’s quarterback Cam Newton lead his team on a 73-yard drive that resulted in running back Jonathan Stewart diving in the endzone from the goal line. From there on, the rest of the game was bland on the offensive side for both teams. McManus ended the first half with another field goal that followed a 61-yard punt return from Josh Norwood, the longest in Super Bowl history, to make it 13-7 Bronco lead.
The second half of the game was nearly not as exciting as the first. Carolina kicker Graham Gano missed a field goal to start off the third quarter. McManus made a field goal later in the third and Gano made one half way through the fourth quarter making the score 16-10 in favor of Denver. With three minutes left, Broncos running back CJ Anderson found his way into the endzone to seal the game. The ensuing two point conversion made the final score of the game 24-10.
One of the highly touted storylines during Super Bowl week was the quarterback matchup. The Panthers quarterback, Cam Newton, 26, is a flashy young quarterback who likes to put on a show for the fans with his exciting dance moves after each touchdown. While future hall-of-famer Peyton Manning, 39, is a leader on and off the field and comes in with a rich history of playoff success having previously won a Super Bowl title. A lot of reporters and analysts spent hours prior to the game discussing if Manning will retire at the end of the game or before next season due to his “old” age. Senior Carson Larussa says it would be a “good way to end his career.” “True champions go out on top,” said guidance counselor Laura Bond. “I’m very happy for him, he was well deserving of his second ring,” said senior Jimmy Boeheim.
The Super Bowl halftime show is the most anticipated part of the event for the non-football fan watching. Many J-DHS students were underwhelmed with the performances of Coldplay, Beyonce, and Bruno Mars. “They didn’t come together as I had expected,” said Mrs. Bond who, despite her high expectations, enjoyed the old clips of past halftime shows during the broadcast. Junior Maddy Palmer simply thought the performance “could’ve been better.” Junior Zac Ripich was not impressed with the halftime show due to the fact that he is not a fan of Coldplay or Bruno Mars. “I needed more Beyonce,” said Ripich. ”(The show) was okay, I’m not a fan of Bruno Mars,” said junior Honore Lasch-Quinn. However, some students thoroughly enjoyed the show. Sophomore William O’Malley was impressed with how the trio of Beyonce, Bruno Mars, and Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin came together at the end of the show. Freshman Adam Honis enjoyed the show since he is a big Bruno Mars fan. Junior Jake Risavi enjoyed Coldplay because he is a fan of the band and thought their performance was exciting. “I liked it, all of the lights made it look really nice,” said sophomore Everett Moss.
The exciting and highly anticipated presentation of the brand new commercials that air during the Super Bowl every year received mixed reviews this year from viewers. The most popular by far at J-DHS was the “Doritos Ultrasound” commercial because of its humor. The commercial portrays a woman getting an ultrasound and her husband eating a bag of Doritos. As the husband moves a Dorito around, the fetus moves in the direction of the chip. At the end, the mother throws the chip across the room in disgust at the father and the baby flies out of her womb. “It was hilarious,” said O’Malley. The least favorite commercial of the year for many was the Mountain Dew Kickstart commercial that involved a creature which was a combination of a puppy, monkey and a baby. “I didn’t like many of them, but that was the worst,” said junior Hannah Leslie. “That commercial was just weird,” said Larussa.
