February 2011 Chatterbox - Ruston High School

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Ruston High School February 14, 2010 Page 30
Green Bay Packers Win Super Bowl XLV
by Reed Malek
Sports Reporter
Forty-four Super Bowls ago, the Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl I 35-10 behind their MVP quarterback Bart Starr and head coach Vince
Lombardi. In Super Bowl forty-five on Sunday, February 6, 2011, the Packers matched their victory in the first Super Bowl, winning 31-25 over the Pittsburgh Steelers giving
the franchise its fourth Super Bowl victory. Though they weren‘t led by the likes of the legendary Starr and Lombardi, quarterback Aaron Rodgers and head coach Mike
McCarthy proved that they could get the job done just as well.
Things got ugly quick; a botched national anthem by Christina Aguilera, a scene of Cameron Diaz hand-feeding popcorn into the mouth of Alex Rodriguez, and a 14-0
Green Bay lead at the end of the first quarter spelled doom for the night. The Packers struck first blood with a twenty-nine-yard touchdown pass from Rodgers to wide receiver
Jordy Nelson with 3:44 left in the first quarter and scored on a Nick Collins interception return-touchdown merely twenty-four seconds later. It appeared early that the black
and gold were going to be black and blue by the end of the day. However, the Green Bay beat-down was mitigated by a Ben Roethlisberger touchdown pass to Hines Ward
with thirty-nine seconds left in the first half, making the Packers‘ lead 21-10 at halftime.
Going into the fourth quarter, all speculation about a Green Bay blowout had diminished. Thanks to an 8-yard touchdown run by Rashard Mendenhall in the third quarter,
the Steelers had cut the Packers‘ lead to four points and shut the mouths of hasty critics. However, Green Bay took action quickly in the fourth quarter with an 8-yard touchdown
pass from Aaron Rodgers to wide receiver Greg Jennings, making the score 28-17. With seven and a half minutes left in the game, the Steelers cut the Green Bay lead to
three via a twenty-five-yard touchdown pass from Roethlisberger to Mike Wallace. The Packers then put together a solid, five and a half minute drive that culminated in a
twenty-three-yard Mason Crosby field goal, making the score 31-25 in favor of Green Bay. This score would remain on the scoreboard for the rest of the game.
In the end Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy hoisted the Super Bowl trophy, just as Bart Starr and Vince Lombardi did forty-four years ago in the very first Super Bowl.
Rodgers would be named the game‘s Most Valuable Player, having accumulated three hundred and four yards passing and three touchdowns, all on twenty-four completions in
thirty-nine passing attempts. Though a lot of factors went into Green Bay‘s victory, one glaring statistic undoubtedly made the difference in the game: turnovers. Pittsburgh
turned the ball over three times, while Green Bay went the entire game without doing so. Whatever the cause, the Packers will now carry the Vince Lombardi Trophy back to
Green Bay.
Accessed at www.jaywashere.com
Accessed at www.jaywashere.com
Bearcat Football Celebrates Season with Banquet
by Christian Amos
Sports Editor
Athletic director and head football coach, Billy
Laird introduces keynote speakers and award
presenters at the annual Bearcat football banquet.
The Bearcats of Ruston High School prevailed through
their 2010 season after starting off with a tough record. With
powerful weapons such as senior Ja‘Ren Johnson on offense
and senior Nick Richardson on the Bearcat defense, this
helped Ruston end ups and downs of the 2010 season with a
winning record!
On the night of January 26 th , Ja‘Ren received the honorable
Hoss Garrett award for his grand performance throughout
the season. As a junior, he led the running game with
925 yards but bettering his senior performance by rushing
for more than 1,000 yards, with a career-best being against
the Wossman defense rushing 329 yards.
Nick was named in high spirits with the Kyle Williams
Defensive Player of the Year award. Nick‘s vitality stood
out with the defensive back totaling sixty-four tackles with
thirty-three of them being unassisted and a pass interception
he returned for a touchdown. Both Ja‘Ren and Nick shared
the team captains‘ award for the season.
The Michael Parker award is to a player who surpassed
an obstacle, generally an injury that could end a player‘s
career. Senior Michael Welch was honored this award after
he was stripped from the field after a knee injury in the game
against Byrd. Fellow team mate Casey Turner was honored
with the Scholastic award for his hard work in the classroom.
Senior Linebacker Maddie Wiggins, was thrilled with
the awards of awards, the Chick Childress award.
―It‘s pretty sad to say it‘s my last [banquet], but I‘ve
gained some great memories‖ says Maddie Wiggins at the
post of the banquet.
Ruston High‘s Athletic Director and Head football coach,
Billy Laird, was named Coach of the Year for the parish for
his ever persevering coaching of the Bearcats through the
ups and downs of the season.