Majority of area coaches picking 49ers in high-scoring Super Bowl

A group of area high school football coaches have weighed in on the outcome of Super Bowl LVIII and the majority has the San Francisco 49ers defeating the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday in Las Vegas.
San Fran is a 2-point favorite and nine of 13 coaches who submitted predictions went with the 49ers to win and also cover the spread.
There was an even stronger opinion on the over/under of 47.5. Only one coach – Uniontown’s Keith Jeffires – felt the game would go under that total with most of the other 12 going with scores well over the number.
As for the MVP of the game, that was a much closer debate. Of the 11 coaches who gave their choice on that, leading the way were Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, 49ers quarterback Brock Purday and San Francisco running back Christian McCaffrey with three votes apiece.
Three coaches added a comment to their predictions, with each of those going with KC and Mahomes as MVP:
Matt Humbert (Belle Vernon): Really wish I could go San Francisco here but Mahomes does it again. Chiefs, 31-28. MVP: Patrick Mahomes.
Tim Bukowski (Southmoreland): A very good matchup but I have to go with the best player on the field and my pick for MVP – Patrick Mahomes. Chiefs, 27-24.
Mike Shannon (Frazier): San Fran has come out flat the last two games. Chiefs, 35-21. MVP: Patrick Mahomes.
Here’s what the rest of the coaches thought:
Scooter Roebuck (Brownsville): 49ers, 35-31. MVP: Christian McCaffrey.
Jace McLean (Connellsville): 49ers, 31-24. MVP: Christian McCaffrey.
Drew Dindl (Albert Gallatin): 49ers, 34-27. MVP: George Kittle.
Keith Jeffries (Uniontown): Chiefs, 21-17. MVP: Travis Kelce.
Ed Woods (California): 49ers, 31-28. MVP: Christian McCaffrey.
Aaron Giorgi (Waynesburg Central): 49ers, 31-24. MVP: Brock Purdy.
Robert Heller (Ringgold): 49ers, 31-21. MVP: Brock Purdy.
Ben Hoffer (Yough): 49ers, 31-20. MVP: Brock Purdy.
Ty Aeschbacher (Charleroi): 49ers, 34-31.
John DeMarco (Elizabeth Forward): 49ers, 28-21.
Keep in mind last year nine of 12 coaches (and yours truly) who submitted picks went with the Philadelphia Eagles to defeat the Chiefs, but it was Kansas City that came out on top, 38-35 as a 1 ½ point underdog in a game that went far above the total of 51. Three coaches had the Chiefs winning and two of them also correctly picked the over. They were Humbert (28-26) and former Ringgold coach Marcus McCulloch (35-31). George Messich (24-17) of Mapletown also predicted a Kansas City victory.
I usually give my two sons, 19-year-old Colton and 18-year-old Westley, a chance to make a pick in this column also, but this year I’m going to let their older sister Brooke have that honor. I think she deserves it by winning our 13-member family NFL pick-the-winner contest for the second year in a row, this year simply destroying the field, including her brothers (and me), and is currently an uncatchable 10 points clear of the runner-up.
Brooke’s prediction: Chiefs, 27-17.
As for me, I’m siding with most of the coaches and going with the Niners to win but I’ll go against their consensus on the total and agree with the Red Raiders’ Keith Jeffries in taking the under.
The key to me is McCaffrey and San Francisco’s ground game. Where the Baltimore Ravens inexplicably abandoned their NFL-best rushing attack against a Kansas City defense that’s shown to be vulnerable against the run, I feel San Fran coach Kyle Shanahan won’t make the same mistake as John Harbaugh, whose excuse according to one reporter for the Ravens passing so much was “it was that type of game.” What??? Might as well just come out and say, “I was badly outcoached.” And Steelers fans complain about Mike Tomlin.
I see several time-consuming drives by both teams. On the other side of the ball, I have the ultimate respect for Mahomes and Kelce but I just think overall the Niners defense is better than KC’s offense.
When it comes to the MVP, I feel McCaffrey will deserve it but you know the voters always love the QBs so my predictions are: 49ers, 23-20. MVP: Brock Purdy.