Harford County football coaches, players give their thoughts on Super Bowl LVII

Harford County is 80 miles from Philadelphia and over a thousand miles from Kansas City. Finding allegiance to the Eagles or Chiefs, set to square off in Super Bowl LVII on Sunday evening, is hard to come by for those living in Maryland.

That doesn’t mean they don’t have thoughts and predictions about the big game. Will the Chiefs’ Super Bowl experience be a key factor? Can the Eagles defense keep rolling? Which Kelce brother is more impactful?

Here’s what some Harford County football coaches and players are saying about the matchup:

Bel Air

Eric Siegal, who has coached the Bobcats since 2019, is a New York native and a Jets fan who’s “not used to winning a whole lot.” But he’s still excited for Sunday’s matchup, which he expects to be a good battle.

The deciding factor? Siegal said who wins the matchup between the Eagles defense and Chiefs offense has the advantage. Officially, he’s predicting Philadelphia 24, Kansas City 21.

Siegal is a defensive-minded coach with an affinity for the Eagles’ pass rush. A group that wasn’t particularly special at the start of the year has a Defensive Player of the Year candidate in Haason Reddick, an immediate impact rookie in Jordan Davis and Siegal lauded the midseason additions of Ndamukong Suh and Linval Joseph.

“I’m also a Mets fan,” Siegal said. “I remember watching Patrick Mahomes’ dad pitching for the Mets back in 2000, the year the Mets went to the World Series. I remember Pat as a very young child running around in the outfield and then he became one of the best quarterbacks in the world.”

Bel Air junior right tackle Aidan Moore added he’s riding with the Eagles despite his fandom lying with the Washington Commanders, an NFC East rival. Moore was born in the Philadelphia area and still has family in Eagles territory, so his rooting interest on Sunday has close ties.

Joppatowne

Mariners first-year head coach Albert Goode, who was promoted from defensive coordinator, made strong arguments for both sides.

Sunday’s matchup pits the NFL’s top passing offense against the top defense. He’s keeping an eye on that matchup. Mahomes won the league’s Most Valuable Player award over Jalen Hurts. Point for Kansas City. Chiefs coach Andy Reid and Mahomes have more big game experience and what Goode considers a harder path to this year’s Super Bowl. Another point for the Chiefs.

That being said, he’s predicting an Eagles win, 31-27, with the caveat that Hurts will have to play mistake-free football.

Goode’s favorite storyline heading into the Super Bowl is the Kelce Bowl, as brothers Travis Kelce, the Chiefs star tight end, and Eagles center Jason Kelce face off for football’s ultimate prize. Goode calls Jason “must-watch TV. Some of the blocks they ask him to do — pulling, reaching, getting to the second level — he’s a Hall of Fame center.”

Joppatowne running back Steven Robinson confidently picked Philadelphia to win. But once he started going through players and matchups, his confidence wavered, fully expecting a close matchup.

He stuck with his gut, foreseeing Eagles 21, Chiefs 14.

Harford Tech

Brad Hunt, who coaches both football and girls basketball at Harford Tech, prefaced his analysis by noting his allegiance lies with his hometown Ravens.

Between the Chiefs and Eagles, he’s picking Kansas City to win, 27-20, because he’s not sold on Philadelphia’s path to get to the big game. Kansas City toppled the Jaguars and defending AFC champion Bengals to earn a trip to Arizona. Meanwhile, Philadelphia beat up on a Giants team it beat twice earlier in the year and the 49ers, who lost quarterback Brock Purdy to injury early in the NFC championship game.

Although, an Eagles win wouldn’t completely surprise Hunt. He recognizes all the weapons Philadelphia has on both sides of the ball: wide receivers AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith, cornerback Darius Slay and Reddick. Without a true rooting interest, he’s just hoping for a competitive game.

“Coming from more of an offensive background, what [Jason Kelce] does for his team … he does so many things that don’t get in the stat sheet,” Hunt said. “The guy is an incredible athlete. He does so many things that go unnoticed in the run game and passing game. And Travis is good, too. He’s extremely talented. It helps when you got a group of coaches that take advantage of their skill sets.”

Hunt inquired about his girls basketball team’s take on the game. They disagreed with their coach, unanimously picking the Eagles to win. The team also noted their excitement for Rihanna’s highly-anticipated halftime performance.

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from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/CZ6WsQu