Lake Tahoe football coaches make Super Bowl predictions
Lake Tahoe high school football coaches have shared their infinite wisdom and broken down Super Bowl LIII that will be played this weekend. South Tahoe’s Louis Franklin, Whittell’s grid coach from two seasons ago Phil Bryant, Whittell’s current head coach Doug Patton, Incline Village’s boss Brian Martinez, Josh Ivens from Truckee and Scott Everist of North Tahoe, have all gone out on a limb and made their picks between the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams. By all means, these picks should be used to bet heavily … probably on the teams they picked against. New England is a 2.5-point favorite and the over-under for points scored is 56.5.
Kickoff is at at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 3, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Louis Franklin, South Tahoe
27-24 New England — I am picking the Patriots to hopefully be wrong. The key for the Rams to me if they want to win is if they can get pressure with four rushers. The Rams best secondary players are on the edge with their defensive backs, so it will be interesting to see if the Rams can stop the Patriots from attacking them in the middle of the field with Edelman, Gronk and Hogan. The Patriots must avoid beating themselves and avoid a big turnover that changes the momentum. They need to stop the run and force the Rams to be one-dimensional, the loss of Cooper Kupp to a season ending injury has really limited the big play passing game for the Rams and third down conversions.
Doug Patton, Whittell
New England — I don’t really have a dog in the hunt but I think the Patriots are going to win. As a lifelong Niner fan, I just can’t root for the Rams.
Brian Martinez, Incline
New England — Who I think is going to win and who I want are two different things. I think the Patriots will win based on their experience and multi-threat offense. I hate to say it, but Brady really is that good. I want the Rams to win because I know how it is to have a young team who’s considered the underdog.
Phil Bryant, Whittell
New England — Although I have enjoyed seeing what Sean McVay has done with the Rams, I have to go with the preparation of Belichick, Brady’s experience, Michel’s running and Edelman in the clutch. But I have a terrible record in picking winners.
Josh Ivens, Truckee
Los Angeles — I’ve been a Rams fan all my life. I was a huge Eric Dickerson fan and of course was very grateful when “The Greatest Show On Turf” brought the Rams their first Super Bowl Championship. It was the Greatest Show on Turf, who first fell to the Patriots and Brady his rookie season. My vision is that the Rams will win, ending this awful era of the NFL and send the Patriots packing for GOOD!
Scott Everist, North Tahoe
Los Angeles — Hard pick! The Pats have the experience, but I’ll go with the Rams, really think that D-line could make a difference in this one.
Justin Scacco from the Sierra Sun contributed to this story.
