Ariss wins Super Bowl Challenge, $100 in cash

SANDPOINT — Former Bulldog soccer player Yamil Ariss, a 2012 Sandpoint graduate who also goes by the name Tyler, was the winner of the annual Bee Super Bowl Challenge, and a crisp new Benjamin.

Ariss predicted a 34-31 win for the Eagles, the highest scoring off all the entries that had the Eagles winning, with Nick Foles as his choice for MVP paying big dividends. Collin Jurenka, a former Bulldog basketball player, also predicted a 34-31 Eagles win, but his MVP choice was former Boise State running back Jay Ajayi, and the final tie-breaker proved critical.

Ariss has his younger sister Corinne Ariss, herself a former Bulldog state champion soccer player, to thank for the win.

“I’m not a huge football fan, but my family has always been Eagles fans,” said Yamil, explaining why. “My sister decided when she was a kid that the Eagles were her favorite team, and I followed suit.”

Ariss was one of just a handful of predictions with high scores, still falling nine points short of the actual 41-33 high scoring shootout, a game that was ultimately highly entertaining and record breaking for its gaudy stats and wild plays.

Yamil plans to share his winnings with Corinne, who is the reason he picked the Eagles to begin with. He followed the game and the prediction sheet in the Bee and new his high score would be in the running early in the shootout.

“It was awesome. I’m going to take my sister out for dinner,” he said of his plans for the C-note. “I’m going to share it with her, since the Eagles are her favorite team. She was so excited.”

Thanks to all of the Bee readers who took the Challenge, and better luck next year.