With Kansas City’s come-from-behind victory over San Francisco in Sunday’s Super Bowl, the long 2019 National Football League season reached its final game with lots of fanfare and hoopla! The league championship event has become quite a spectator extravaganza.
NFL practice began with the opening of training camps back in late July — remember when it was hot? Now more than three months after most high school football teams finished up, the nearly 28-week season — for the Chiefs and 49ers — is over. The 17-week regular season concluded for 20 of the 32 teams five weeks ago.
The other 12 teams — including the Minnesota Vikings — were part of the elimination process of the playoffs, which was capped on Sunday by KC’s 31-20 victory in Miami. The Chiefs needed to rally to win all three of their playoff games, coming back from deficits of 28-7, 17-7 and 20-10 against the Texans, Titans and 49ers, respectively.
There’s speculation that the Chiefs, sparked by 24-year-old quarterback Patrick Mahomes, may be on the verge of becoming a dynasty, replacing the New England Patriots who have held that distinction over much of the past two decades. Time will tell. There’s a lot of parity in the NFL which makes repeating an always challenging and difficult task — as the late 50s song by Essex says “It’s Easier Said Than Done.”
The Chiefs certainly have had two exceptional seasons under the coaching guidance of veteran Andy Reid and the remarkable dual-threat passing and running ability of Mahomes, the son of former Minnesota Twins pitcher Patrick Mahomes, Sr.
Meanwhile, the high school teams are rapidly moving through the regular season with tournament action fast approaching. A big boys’ basketball game is at stake Thursday night (February 6) in Adrian when the rematch between Heron Lake-Okabena / Fulda and Adrian / Ellsworth takes place. Both squads are in their first season as paired programs and both have an abundance of talent and depth. The Coyotes emerged with a 66-57 victory at Okabena back on January 7.
The Dragons finished that game without skilled senior guard Ian Stamer, who injured an ankle midway through the second half — just when he was helping spark his team with a strong rallying effort. At the end of January, Adrian / Ellsworth was 11-7 overall this winter and the Dragons were riding a three-game winning streak and had won five of their last six games.
Before Monday night’s game versus Edgerton, HL-O / Fulda was 7-12 overall (5-5 in the Red Rock Conference), but the Coyotes have been impressive in the past two weeks, notching conference road victories over Red Rock Central (77-46) and Hills-Beaver Creek (78-75).
The game will be important in the conference standings (Adrian is 6-5) and in the upcoming sub-section seedings (as of Monday, the Dragons were 8-5 among section opponents, while the Coyotes were 5-7).
In girls’ basketball, Adrian / Ellsworth had a recent 10-game winning streak snapped with a 54-36 loss to Big South Conference rival Luverne last Monday (January 27). The Dragon girls are third in the conference (7-3) and will host league-leading Hills-Beaver Creek next Tuesday (February 11) in Ellsworth. Included in the win streak were key conference victories over Mountain Lake Area / Comfrey (53-50) and Red Rock Central (50-44), a pair of very good teams.
Murray County Central’s girls have been playing competitive as evidenced by closely-contested losses last week to Lakeview (62-55) and Red Rock Central (76-71), both at home. The Rebels will be at home in Slayton again Thursday (the 6th) against Westbrook-Walnut Grove and next Monday (February 10) tangling with HL-O / Fulda. In between those two games, the MCC girls will travel to Hills on Friday, February 7.
There are lots of opportunities coming up to watch your favorite high school sports teams compete.
