Lost Lake Tribune, Super Bowl XLIII edition!

Pittsburgh Wins Exciting Super Bowl XLIII. - Sunday- Tampa- The Pittsburgh Steelers have won their sixth Super Bowl as a franchise by defeating the Arizona Cardinals 27-23 on Sunday. The Steelers took the opening drive 71 yards to the Arizona 1 yard line when their quarterback Ben Roethlisberger thought he had scored the game's first touchdown on a 3rd and Goal. But Arizona's coach challenged the play and it was overturned. The Steelers settled for a field goal. The Steelers later took a 10-0 of an 11 play, 69 yard drive that culminated in the first minute of the second quarter. Backup running back, Gary Russell scored from one yard out. The Cardinals then scored their first touchdown after a deep pass to Anquan Boldin brought Kurt Warner's team to the Pittsburgh 1 yard line. With the score at 10-7, Roethlisberger threw an interception late in the first half. This interception gave Arizona a chance to take the lead as they drove inside the five. But Warner threw the next pass into the hands of James Harrison of the Steelers who took the ball 100 yards for a touchdown to make the halftime score 17-7. In the second half, the Steelers and Cardinals defense made important stops including two goaline stands on the same possession by Arizona defense. The Cardinals forced a field goal and the score was 20-7 with one quarter to play. Then the game got interesting! The Cardinals forced a 49 yard punt from the Steelers and then drove 87 yards in 8 plays and scored on a Larry Fitzgerald Jr. reception. The Cardinals forced another Steelers punt and drove to the Pittsburgh 26 before losing 10 yards on penalties. Then Ben Graham punted a beautiful 35 yard pooch punt to force the Steelers to start at their own 1. The Steelers paid dearly by committing a holding penalty in the end zone and surrendering a safety. This made the score 20-16. The Cardinals got the ball back. Two plays later, Larry Fitzgerald Jr, scored again, this time on a 64 yard reception, in which he outran the defense. The Cardinals were two minutes and thirty-seven seconds from winning the Super Bowl if their defense could hang on to a 23-20 lead. The Steelers took the next drive 88 yards on 8 plays after a first down offensive holding penalty. On second and goal on the AZ 6, Roethlisberger found Santonio Holmes for an amazing game winning catch in which Holmes kept both feet just inches from the out of bounds line in the end zone. With just 35 seconds left, Arizona did try to come back once again. Warner made two complete passes and took his team to the Pittsburgh 43. However, Warner then fumbled the ball and the Steelers recovered and ran out the clock to win the Super Bowl. The Steelers' 2006 first round draft pick, wide receiver, Santonio Holmes was awarded the MVP. North Central Easily Defeats Faith.- Saturday- Minneapolis- North Central's sixth man Jeremy Grilley lead the way with 21 points in 23 minutes as North Central defeated their rival, Faith 82-55. The Rams shot 54 per cent in the first half while holding Faith to 20 per cent shooting. This discrepancy gave the Rams a 42-17 lead at halftime. The second half was competitive with the Eagles scoring just two less points that North Central. The Rams' best shooter, Daniel Young added 20 points. Faith was led by Erik Nilius' 16 points while Rosekopf scored 14 and Terlouw scored 13. Former Pillsbury student, Ryan Johnson scored two points for Faith on 1-4 shooting. Trinity Sweeps Crossroads.- Saturday- Ellendale, ND-The Trinity Lions showed Crossroads the importance of home advantage as they swept conference opponent, Crossroads, with wins of 94-73 on Friday and 77-67 on Saturday. The losses give Crossroads a record of 8-6 (1-3). Trinity improved to 10-11 (4-2). The Lions travel to Bemidji, MN to face Oak Hills on Monday, Feb. 2nd and Tuesday, Feb. 3rd. The Knights are in Ankeny, IA on Tuesday to face Faith. Editorial.- Congratulations to the 2008 Pittsburgh Steelers for their Super Bowl win over Arizona! I was cheering for the Cardinals, but the Steelers deserved to win even if I disagreed with some of the calls. Ben Roethlisberger is a clutch player and will continue to win rings if his teammates continue to play well also. James Harrison is a fine defensive end who has proved his worth after being cut several times. Santonio Holmes has filled Antwaan Randle El's shoes very nicely. I do respect Kurt Warner, Edgerrin James, Fitz Jr, and Bertrand Berry of the Cardinals for their memorable run. However, the moment belongs to Willie Parker and the Pittsburgh Steelers for their win. Just please do not win next year! Maybe somebody can explain what the Cardinals were running on defense when Holmes caught that 46 yard pass on the winning drive. Just email me at benfugate2005@yahoo.com. Until next time, CONGRATS Mike Tomlin and the Steelers.