Last night was the epic finale of the Ultimate Madden Bowl. This final game capped off an epic season for the Madden Championship Series (MCS) that has seen some of the wildest games in recent memory. The title match saw the top two players in the world battle it out, with 17-year-old Dez becoming the youngest Madden Bowl champion in history.
Dez’s Road to the Finals
Dez made headlines in November when he won the Ultimate Thanksgiving tournament. This made him the youngest player to ever win an MCS major tournament. This win also helped earn him a first round bye in the Ultimate Madden Bowl.
Dez’s first matchup in the tournament was against Cole. This would not be an easy game, as Cole was coming off an impressive semifinal run in the Ultimate Wild Card tournament a few weeks earlier. It was a close game in the first half, with Dez leading 21-17 at halftime. However, the second half was anything but close. Dez rattled off 21 unanswered points to win 42-17 and move on to the final four.
Now in Dez’s way was Kiv, who had rattled off impressive wins over CleffTheGod and DCroft to make it to the semifinals. This game was nowhere near as high scoring as the previous one. This time, Kiv held a 13-7 lead on Dez at halftime. The only points scored in the second half would be the 16-yard touchdown pass by Dez that would give him the lead for good as he went on to win 14-13.
Dez had now secured his spot in the Ultimate Madden Bowl Championship Game. But, it wouldn’t be an easy win as he would be going up against arguably the greatest Madden player of all time.
Championship Game
In the final game of the tournament, Dez faced off against #1 seed Henry. Henry had already won a record-breaking 5 MCS belts, and was looking to be like Michael Jordan and get number 6. Henry had beaten Cobo 34-17 and blew out Fancy 31-3 in the semifinals. Henry was on a hot streak that was almost unprecedented in the MCS.
Once the final game started, Dez wasted no time getting to work. After Henry turned it over on downs inside his own 20, Dez threw a perfect pass to Michael Irvin to get the scoring started. Henry threw an interception on his next drive, which set up Dez to run it in and take a 14-0 lead in the 1st quarter. Another turnover on downs by Henry in late in the 2nd quarter allowed Dez to take a 17-0 lead into halftime. Dez would hold onto this lead throughout the second half as he won 24-14 to claim the belt and the title of Ultimate Madden Bowl Champion.
This is Dez’s second MCS major tournament championship. Along with his second belt, he also takes home the grand prize of $250,000. At only 17-years-old, Dez is the youngest Ultimate Madden Bowl champion in MCS history. Beating a Madden legend like Henry certainly makes this victory all the more impressive.