The Super Bowl by Stephanie Peters

Author:Stephanie Peters [CHRISTOPHER, MATTHEW F]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780316094474
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published: 2009-12-19T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

1989–1990

Return of the 49ers

Super Bowl XXII had featured one of the greatest second quarters ever played. But for some, the game was a yawner because the outcome had been so obvious by halftime. Those fans wished for the last-minute upsets and come-from-behind victories that made football so exciting to watch.

They got their wish the following year. Super Bowl XXIII, between the San Francisco 49ers and the Cincinnati Bengals, went right down to the wire.

The Bengals had put together a fantastic season in 1988, winning all eight of their home games and going four-for-four on the road — quite an achievement for the team that had had the worst record in the AFC the previous year! Their turnaround had been in large part due to their quarterback, Boomer Esiason, who in 1988 led the conference with 28 touchdowns.

The 49ers had their star quarterback, Joe Montana, and their equally strong backup QB, Steve Young. The 49ers also had the best pass catcher in the league, Jerry Rice.

The game promised to be a tough battle, but no one expected it to be bloody. Yet by the end of the first quarter, San Francisco’s Steve Wallace was out with a broken ankle and Tim Krumrie of the Bengals had had his leg shattered in three places. Alongside these injuries, the three-point field goal by the 49ers seemed almost an afterthought.

The game ground down into a defensive struggle in the second quarter. Neither team could move the ball far enough into the other’s territory to score a touchdown, although a few minutes before the half, the Bengals managed to tie it up with a field goal.

The offense continued to slumber in the third quarter. On the opening possession, Esiason marched his men down the field only to see their touchdown hopes turn into yet another field goal. They didn’t hold their three-point lead for long, however. Esiason threw an interception that the 49ers returned for another field goal.

With the score knotted at 6 apiece and the third quarter ticking to a close, San Francisco kicked off. Stanford Jennings of the Bengals caught the ball on the 7 and began to run. He passed the 10, the 15, the 20 — and all the other hash marks on the field as he dodged and weaved his way into the end zone, a 93-yard return!

The 49ers were stunned, but they didn’t despair. Instead, they came back fighting with a sweet three-play drive that ended with Montana connecting with Rice in the end zone. Once again, the game was tied.

Then disaster struck the 49ers. They had the go-ahead points lined up with a field goal — but their kicker missed the attempt. The Bengals made sure they didn’t follow suit. On their next drive, they sent the ball soaring through the uprights to make it 16–13 with less than three minutes left.

But as the saying goes, it ain’t over until it’s over — and for San Francisco, it wasn’t over, not by a long shot. After the kickoff, Montana worked his team down the field one short pass at a time.

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