Tahoe area football coaches make Super Bowl predictions
Lifelong Rams fan and Truckee head coach, Josh Ivens, is taking Los Angeles to defeat New England in this Sunday's Super Bowl matchup.
Sylas Wright / Sierra Sun
North Tahoe Head Coach Scott Everist is taking the Rams to knock off the Patriots in this year's Super Bowl.
Louis Franklin
Boyd's photo
Brian Martinez
Phil Bryant
Super Bowl LLI: New England Patriots vs. Los Angeles Rams.
The game will be aired on CBS.
Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Ahead of this Sunday's Super Bowl matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and New England Patriots, local high school football coaches from around the Truckee-Tahoe area weighed on who will take home the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
Truckee's Josh Ivens, North Tahoe's Scott Everist, South Tahoe's Louis Franklin, Whittell's coach from two seasons ago Phil Bryant, Whittell's current head coach Doug Patton and Incline Village's boss Brian Martinez have all gone out on a limb and made their picks for this weekend's game.
As of Thursday, Jan. 31, the Patriots were favored by 3 points, according to bookmaker William Hill, and the over/under for the game is set at 56.5.
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.
Louis Franklin, South Tahoe
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.
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.
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.
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. I have a terrible record in picking winners.
Justin Scacco is a reporter for the Sierra Sun. Contact him at jscacco@sierrasun.com. Tahoe Daily Tribune staff writer Bill Rozak contributed to this report.