Forty-niners fall just short of claiming Super Bowl title
By Aaron Whitaker
On the afternoon of Sunday, February 3, 2013, crowds flooded supermarkets across the country, buying last minute preparations as they hosted or attended a party to watch the most viewed annual programming on television‒the Super Bowl. Super Bowl XLVII was hosted in New Orleans at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome and over 70,000 spectators traveled to the “Big Easy” to watch a once-in-a-lifetime matchup between the Harbaugh brothers, Jim and John. John is the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens and Jim is the head coach of the San Francisco Forty-niners.
Before kickoff, Jennifer Hudson sang “America the Beautiful,” along with student survivors from the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting. Alicia Keys then performed a unique rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” while playing the piano.
The first quarter started off bleak as the Ravens scored a touchdown to take the lead. Forty-niners kicker, David Akers, was able to assist the Forty-niners to get on the board with a field goal a few minutes before the end of the quarter. The Ravens wrath continued into the second quarter with another two touchdowns. Again, all the Forty-niners could spare was one field goal, which put them down at the half 28-6.
At halftime, Beyonce rocked the crowd with some of her famous hits including “Halo” and “Single Ladies.” In addition, the other two members from Beyonce’s original singing group, Destiny’s Child, reunited to sing with Beyonce for a brief time.
The second half began and fans were anxious to see if the Forty-niners could make a comeback. Spirits were disheartened however as Ravens wide receiver Jacoby Jones caught the kickoff and ran 109 yards untouched to the end zone for a record-breaking touchdown. Shortly after, the power in half of the stadium went out, causing a 34 minute delay. This blackout seems to have been a sign for the Forty-niners as a twist of fate occurred once play continued.
After consistently gaining the first down, Forty-niners quarterback Colin Kaepernick made a nice throw to Michael Crabtree who scored the Niners first touchdown. Later on, when the Niners regained possession of the ball, Kaepernick threw the ball from the shotgun and gave it to Gore. Gore then went around the left side and scooted into the end zone untouched for another touchdown, making the score 28-20. With a few minutes remaining in the quarter, the Niners decide to attempt a 39-yard field goal. Akers originally misses to the left, however a flag is called on the ravens for running into the kicker. Akers gets a second chance and delivers to add 3 points to the Forty-niners score. They now trail Baltimore by only 5 points.
As the final quarter begins, the Ravens make a startling reappearance, adding 6 points to their score to make it 34-28. The forty-niners didn’t stop scoring however. Colin Kaepernick ran a quarterback sneak to score another touchdown for the Niners. A safety was called on the Ravens within the last few minutes of the quarter to put the Niners up to 31 points. Unfortunately, the combination of a bad call made by the referee toward the end of the game regarding holding and a late comeback led the Niners to fall to the Ravens 34-31.
The Ravens ultimately won because they played better. The Niners had the mindset that they were the better team, which may have cost them the win. Nonetheless, the Super Bowl was one for the record books, and there is always next year for the Forty-niners to redeem themselves. Until then, congratulations to the Ravens for their second Super Bowl win.
Ravens wide receiver Jacoby Jones scores a 109 yard touchdown in the 3rd quarter of the superbowl.
