Who will hoist the Lombardi trophy?

Can the Philadelphia Eagles ride their emotional intensity to overcome the proven experience of the New England Patriots? Can their backup QB play well enough to defeat arguably the greatest quarterback of all time?

Nine area high school coaches recently made their Super Bowl predictions.

Jim Thorpe’s Mark Rosenberger, a life long fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers, doesn’t think Philadelphia will pull off the upset.

“How do you pick against the Patriots?” he asked. “If it’s a close game, they will always find a way to win.”

He added that he’d be happy for his father if the Eagles pull it out because “it’s been a long time coming.”

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Talk about a long time coming, Lehighton’s Tom McCarroll is a Chicago Bears’ fan whose team hasn’t celebrated with the Lombardi Trophy in 32 years.

He likes the Eagles to win because of the guys up front.

“The Eagles have a better defensive front four and will pressure Brady to throw the ball before he can step up into the pocket,” McCarroll said. “They should be able to keep him out of his rhythm.”

McCarroll also believes that Philly’s defense will get turnovers and give the ball to their offense in good field positions for short scoring drives.

“I think Doug Pederson is a key. He’ll keep his foot on the pedal and not be conservative like Jacksonville. I see Pedersen going on fourth and short from his own 46 late in the game to keep the ball away from Brady.

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“Die hard” is how Northern Lehigh’s Joe Tout describes himself as an Eagles’ fan.

“Our defensive line and offensive line are better than the Patriots’ lines,” he said. “We can get A-Gap pressure on Brady with our defensive line and get him to slide out of the pocket where he’s not comfortable.”

Tout does not think Philly will be in awe of the fact that they are arguably up against the best coach and the best quarterback of all time.

“Throw out the destiny thing,” Tout said. ”The Patriots were shaky against Jacksonville and Foles has used his last three games as his preseason and he’s playing well. The Eagles are definitely the better team.”

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Northwestern’s Josh Snyder, another lifetime fan of the green and white, claims the birds have the “proper tools” to deny New England their sixth NFL title.

“You win championships with a great defense and a strong running game and the Eagles have both,” he said. “And Foles has proven he can get the job done. He’s smart and will take what New England’s defense will give him to make enough plays.”

Snyder feels the Eagle “D” will come up big as they have been all season long and win the turnover battle, another key to winning a Super Bowl.

Be aggressive says Snyder about the Eagles game plan. “Throw the chips in the middle of the table and let it rip.”

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Chris Walkowiak, head mentor for the Palmerton Blue Bombers, has bled Steeler black and gold since he was a kid. He has a dilemma about rooting for either team.

“I’m an AFC guy so I should be loyal to the Patriots, but if they win they tie the Steelers for most Super Bowl victories,” said Walkowiak. Despite that, he believes Tom Brady will get it done again. “He’s so poised and he will be in command of the game with his leadership. How can you not bet on him to win if the game is close in the fourth quarter?”

Walkowiak said that for the Eagles to win, their defense has to step up and control the line of scrimmage, but he feels that the team’s high emotions might play right into the hands of the experience many of the Pats have playing in the Super Bowl.

“The Eagles are very good and they’re playing with a great chemistry,” said Walkowiak. “But they’re up against the best coach and quarterback of all time.”

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Head coach Scott Price of Panther Valley likes the Eagles to win because defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz will stop Brady with his blitz packages.

“Philly will get pressure in the middle gaps, and then when they blitz off the edge, they’ll flush Brady out and he’ll have nowhere to set up,” Price predicted.

Price contends that Foles does not have to win the game on his own, and the Eagles running game will be dominant.

“They have a great offensive line and tackle, Lane Johnson is on a mission,” he said. “He’s a one-man wrecking crew and will help the Eagles control the clock.”

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Pleasant Valley’s Mark Versuk has been a Philly fan ever since his father took him to a game in 1985.

“I was seven years old at the time and I remember they played the Giants at the Vet and Lawrence Taylor sacked Ron Jaworski at least three times,” recalled Versuk.

Versuk likes the Eagles to win the Super Bowl because their line is better on both sides of the ball, and their intense physicality will be too much for New England to handle.

“The Eagles will use their underdog role as the motivation to win the game,” he said.

He does worry about the proven magic in the passing arm of Brady.

“You have to keep him off the field, and if he gets the ball in the fourth quarter needing a score to win, there better be under 10 seconds left in the game,” said Versuk.

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Sam Bonner from Tamaqua has been a Washington Redskins’ fan since the days when coach Joe Gibbs won a Super Bowl with a power running attack led by John Riggins.

“I see the Patriots winning a tight game,” he said. They’ll get the turnovers that will be the difference.”

Bonner believes that Nick Foles won’t be able to duplicate what he did against the Vikings’ and will have “nothing left in the tank” against the reigning world champions.

“It will be a last-possession game, and everyone knows who’s the best of all time when it comes to winning a big game with just seconds left.”

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Marian’s Pat Morgans, a Dallas Cowboys’ fan from back in the days of Tom Landry and Roger Staubach, feels the game could go either way.

“The Eagles have built themselves into a class organization,” he said. “If they can score like they did against the Vikings, their defense is good enough to beat the Patriots.”

Morgans sees a high-scoring shootout, and the Eagles will have to be ahead by three touchdowns going into the fourth quarter to win.

And he added, “Nick Foles will be the MVP.”

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Six of the nine coaches like the Eagles to win, but there was one thing agreed upon by them all.

None of them wanted to be Philadelphia policemen who will have to take to the city streets after the game is over.