TORRANCE TRIBUNE December 24, 2015 Page 5 Up and Adam NEW YEAR’S EVE 2015 PARTY Party Favors, Music, Food Champagne Toast, Free Coffee Live Band “Public Works” 9pm-1am And Bowling December 31st 8pm - 1am Adults: $35.00 | No Bowling Guest: $5.00 Children Over 6: $25.00 Children Under 6: FREE MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS EARLY! Palos Verdes Bowl 26600 Crenshaw Blvd., Torrance, CA 90505 (310) 326-5120 Predicting the Super Bowl By Adam Serrao It’s amazing how quickly the football season comes and goes every year. This year has seemingly been no different. It appears like just days ago that we were talking about Pete Carroll ignoring his star running back, Marshawn Lynch, to pass the ball over the middle of the field and lose Super Bowl XLIX on an interception. It’s been almost an entire year since then and while both the Seahawks and the Patriots seem to be headed back for a playoff push, other teams have emerged as possible Super Bowl 50 front-runners. Heading into final weeks of regular season play, a record 23 teams have still been alive in the playoff hunt. Despite all of the talk, however, there are only a handful that actually have the chance to make it to the big dance. The Carolina Panthers have lasted longer than any other team in the league without getting a loss. Even still, fans and analysts everywhere are looking for reasons to eliminate Cam Newton and company from Super Bowl contention. The NFC is, of course, and extremely tough conference. In order to get there, the Panthers will have to get past the likes of the Seattle Seahawks, Green Bay Packers, and Arizona Cardinals, to name a few. Perhaps that’s why unless you’re a Carolina fan, you don’t believe the trek to Santa Clara for this year’s championship game is possible. Newton, however, leads the NFL in touchdown percentage. He’s the leading quarterback rusher in the league, has one of the best tight ends in Greg Olson, a much improved offensive line, a great running game and a defense that leads the league in turnovers, interceptions and time of possession. It’s tough to see a flaw in the Panthers. Maybe that’s why they’ve spent so much of this year undefeated. Maybe it’s also time to start believing in the Panthers. The Arizona Cardinals are a team that the Panthers will almost certainly have to beat if they want to make it to Super Bowl 50. It doesn’t get much more high-powered than this Cardinals offense. Carson Palmer was 23-4 in games started as a Cardinal heading into last week’s action. With a quarterback that somehow seems to be aging, yet still in his prime, a group of wide receivers (featuring Larry Fitzgerald) that can catch anything Palmer throws in the air, and a defense that just might be better than Carolina’s, Arizona’s got a real shot at it this year. The only thing that makes the Cardinals a tough team to predict is what they’ll have to go through to win it all. A probable first-round bye is obviously a good thing, but after that, likely matchups with both Seattle and Carolina will certainly make Arizona earn it should they get to this year’s championship game. To round out the NFC challengers, there is, of course, the Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers. the Seahawks have recently looked like the NFL’s best team. Russell Wilson has been passing the ball like nobody’s business, the defense that has consistently been the best in the NFL seems to be back, and wide receivers are coming out of the woodworks to step up and seize games. Seattle’s only drawback is its running game. Marshawn Lynch has been sidelined for the last quarter of the season due to sports hernia surgery and his backup, Thomas Rawls, who filled in nicely, just went out for the year with a fractured ankle. It’ll be interesting to see how the team compensates to keep their newly acquired high-powered offense churning. When speaking of high-powered offenses, the Packers always come to mind. Aaron Rodgers has seemed to hit a snag in the road, however, and the absence of Jordy Nelson in the receiving corps has clearly made itself evident. While running back Eddie Lacy has been up and down, he seems to be back on track, but the defense, unlike other NFC opponents, certainly doesn’t scare anyone. The Packers were the preseason hot pick to take it all this year. As often happens throughout the course of a year, though, facts change and with that so do opinions. The Packers currently seem to be on the outside looking in. So what about the AFC? The excitement comes there when looking at certain division races. For instance, what have the Jacksonville Jaguars still been doing alive this late in the season? While they, the Houston Texans and even the Colts are all stories in their own right, they’re not making it to this year’s Super Bowl. The real story lies in the front-runners like the Denver Broncos, Patriots and even the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Broncos have been one of the best teams in the league all season long but there is, naturally, one big question with that team. What are they going to do with Peyton Manning? Brock Osweiler has been good in his stead, but it’s unlikely that he will lead a team, even with the best defense in the league, to a championship. New England was a great pick all year to get to the Super Bowl but have you seen that team lately? Their defense is decimated by injuries, they just lost their running back LeGarrette Blount for the year, Julian Edelman has been out with a broken foot and every week seems to reveal yet another player to put on injured reserve. You should never rule out Tom Brady. Oh, and there’s Rob Gronkowski. Never forget about Gronk. The Steelers, on the other hand, are the one team nobody wants to see at any point or time during the playoffs. They still, believe it or not, need help to actually make it into the playoffs, but if they do, watch out. Perhaps the best receiving corps in the league led by “Big Ben” Roethlisberger and a great running game to boot should have the Steelers putting a scare into any opponent they might face this postseason. All it takes is one 80-yard pass and Pittsburgh’s right back in the game and also still in this year’s Super Bowl hunt. Honorable mentions? Of course the Cincinnati Bengals, who just lost their starting quarterback, Andy Dalton to injury. The New York Jets, who have a revived Ryan Fitzpatrick leading Brandon Marshall, Eric Decker and Chris Ivory. The Kansas City Chiefs, who always seem to hover around where they currently sit, and the Minnesota Vikings. With Adrian Peterson, all things are possible. My Super Bowl Prediction? The Arizona Cardinals against the New England Patriots. Arizona wins, 24-21. What’s your prediction? Asixlion@earthlink.net • STARS & STRIPES A M E R I C A N M A D E C L O T H I N G S T O R E COME CHECK US OUT! GREAT CLOTHING INCLUDING DENIM, HATS, BAGS, SHOES AND MORE 1107 Van Ness Ave.Torrance, CA 90501 • 310.320-3207 LEE 101 USA, WOOLRICH, SAVE KHAKI, MINNETONKA MOCCASIN, PENNY, JAN SPORT, DULUTH, REYN SPOONER, TRETORN, BALL, BURTON, STANCE, RAINBOW SANDALS, FILSON, TEVA, NEW YORK HAT, PADDY WAX, RICHER & POORER, SCHOTT USA, STRATHTAY Open Mondays through Saturdays Noon to 6pm West Girls Soccer Runs at Tourney Title By Adam Serrao The West High girls soccer team is no stranger to success. Last season, under head coach Jessica Murphy, the Lady Warriors not only captured a Pioneer League title with a first place finish in their division, but they also took the CIF Division 3 playoff championship by beating Cypress 2-0 in the final. If that kind of season doesn’t spell success to you, then what would? Now that last season is in the past, Murphy and her crew of excellent soccer players are back. This year’s South Torrance Holiday Classic was the perfect showcase for West to display exactly what their team is all about. Before the end of the tournament, the West High girls didn’t really know what losing felt like. The closest the soccer team had come this season to a loss was an opening day, 1-1 tie with Ocean League rival, El Segundo. The Warriors used the South Torrance tournament as the perfect platform to put that tie behind them. In a semifinal matchup against Redondo, Kaitlin Fregulia gave the Warriors the first points of the match with a lunging kick that saw the ball wind up in the back of the net. Up 1-0 on Redondo, they never looked back. Sam Layman took a corner kick from Emily Duenas and headed the ball into the net to give her team a 2-0 lead and eventual victory to move on to the finals of the tournament. West was right where they thought that they would be when the tournament final began against the very team that they tied against to start the season; El Segundo. With the perfect opportunity for revenge at hand, however, the Warriors faltered. In just the 17th minute of action, a free kick took a couple of wrong bounces and eventually wound up in the back of the Warriors’ net, giving El Segundo an early 1-0 lead. The second half started just like the first when a corner kick led to yet another El Segundo goal. West made things interesting when with just under 12 minutes remaining, Kalie Silvkoff sunk a goal to get her team on the board, but El Segundo was able to play keep-away for the remainder of the game to give themselves their first ever South Torrance Holiday Classic title and hand the Warriors their first official loss of the season. “I think the big thing was the desire from the girls,” coach Murphy said in response to her teams loss. “It’s something to learn from,” she continued. “Although we’d like to be South Tournament champions, we’d rather be Pioneer League champs and CIF champs.” Wise words from Murphy, who had a team that accomplished precisely those goals just a season ago. One loss doesn’t make a season. Now the Lady Warriors will take what they learned and get even better to take on the rest of the season that is to come. Torrance High As last year’s second place finishers in the Pioneer League, The Torrance Tartars are looking to have a rebound season and this time, finish better than their rivals from West. Head coach Allison Arriola has the team out to yet another solid start, keyed by victories over Narbonne, Peninsula, and South High, to name a few. Now headed into a brief Christmas break, the Lady Tartars’ (5-3) real challenge will come in early January when they return. A January 8th rivalry game against the West High Warriors looms in the background. A Torrance team that currently sits in fourth place will certainly need a win to climb up in the standings early on in the season. South High The South High Spartans finished in third place last year in the soccer standings and currently sit in third place as things stand now. If anything, the team is consistent. Head coach Elizabeth Kitsios has her team firing on all cylinders with a 6-2-1 record to start the young season. A 6-0 win against Windward may have been the team’s breakout game as the Lady Spartans have also gone on to notch wins against Bishop Montgomery and Chadwick, amongst others. South recently dropped a pivotal game against Torrance High leading into their break (2-1), but will look to rebound when they return in early January to face off against another league rival, the North High Saxons. North High Perhaps this year’s surprise team of the league, the North High Saxons, are racking up wins and don’t seem to see a stopping point at any place in their near future. Head coach Katrina Johnson led the team to an 11- 11-1 record just a season ago, good enough for a fourth place finish, but now sees her team dominating with an early 9-2 record. In their first four wins, The Lady Saxons have recorded all shutouts, outscoring their opponents by a combined score of 17-0. The team will have a key matchup against South in the first week after break before taking on West one week later. It won’t be long before we know just how for real this Saxon team is. So far, all signs are pointing in the right direction. – Asixlion@Earthlink.net
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