On Super Bowl Sunday, just hours before the New England Patriots took on the Seattle Seahawks, Animal Planet premiered its eleventh annual Puppy Bowl. The Puppy Bowl is a spinoff of the Super Bowl and features various dogs from shelters around the country in hopes of giving these pooches a new leash on life and get them adopted. Brianna Neal, 10th grade, said, “It was so cute watching the dogs stumble all over the toys.”

The concept of the game is simple. The dogs must take a toy from the middle of the field and carry it all the way to their end zone without one of the opposing team members taking it away or fighting for it. Fifty-seven dogs took place in this year’s bowl. And though Team Fluff suffered from a paw-ful loss, they were granted with the game’s biggest MVP, or most valuable puppy, a fourteen week old Shih Tzu from Florida named Cara. Cara started off her rookie year by scoring the very first touchdown of the game within just a few minutes, and made multiple touchdowns afterwards for her team.

Animal Planet had nearly five million viewers. “I love the puppy bowl more than the Super Bowl,” Brianna Neal said. “I enjoy the bundles of cuteness over big burley guys tackling each other.”

By the end of the 1st half of the game, Team Ruff was winning 45-28, scoring touch down after touch down, “Well, I’d have to say I left barking mad,” Darren, 10th grade, said. “I was Team Fluff all the way!” Immediately following the end of the first half was a cat-tastic performance from, “Katty Furry”, a Siamese cat wearing a blue wig and candy outfit.

As soon as the 2nd half started, Team Ruff wasted no time on letting Team Fluff catch up. This determination led Team Ruff to a paw-sitive victory. They left Team Fluff in the dust with an overall score of 87-49. Though it may have been a rough game for Team Fluff, they earned their glory through scoring the first few touchdowns of the game. Team Fluff will surely have a bone to pick with Team Ruff at next year’s Puppy Bowl.