Event City: Kansas City, MO / 9.4.05
Winner Name: Eugene Williams
Winner Nickname: Big Gene
Hometown: Philadelphia, PA
Age: 21
Team used: Oakland Raiders
It?s official, folks: Eugene ?Big Gene? Williams is back to defend his 2004 EA SPORTS Madden Challenge title by taking the Kansas City regional and becoming the first ever Madden baller to advance to three consecutive Madden Challenge finals.
In the 2003 Challenge finals, he lost an exciting championship game against ?The Sandman,? only to return last year to defeat ?Pretty Boy? for the 2004 Challenge crown and take home the $50,000 prize. Based on his game in Kansas City, ?Big Gene? could very well increase his winnings with an additional $100,000 if his dominating ways continue.
He proved to be a great student of the game by defeating Frank Luckett of St. Louis, Missouri in a championship game that seemed as if either player could win it. ?Big Gene?s? Raiders had their hands full going up against Frank?s high-flying Colts. The score was 7-7 coming out of the half, with an early third-quarter Colt interception leading to a 51-yard field goal with 2:30 on the clock.
Not to be denied, Oakland scored with 3:57 in the fourth to take a 14-10 lead, but the Colts followed with an impressive drive late in the quarter. Just as it seemed as if Frank had what it took to knock off the champ, as he marched down the field rather easily to ?Big Gene?s? 12-yard line, he elected to kick a field goal on fourth down instead of going for the win. The successful boot left him down 14-13, and the game ended with three straight runs by ?Big Gene? after the ensuing kickoff forced Frank to burn all of his timeouts.
23-year-old female Jaime Sulit from Oak Lawn, IL excited the crowd as she held her opponents to low scores in our Kansas City Rookie Challenge. Jaime won her games with scores of 20-7, 17-0, and 6-0 before being defeated 10-7 in her fourth game of the day. At the end of the tourney, D?Mario ?Pookey? Gray won his hometown Rookie Challenge over runner-up Ryan Collier of Pleasanton, Kansas by a score of 20-0. It was a rough game for Ryan as he struggled to get on the board, making it pretty easy for ?Pookey? to collect his library of EA SPORTS games.
Congratulations to all of our winners and runner-ups as we head to Buffalo, NY for our fifth Madden regional stop.
Tip of the Day from the EA SPORTS Madden Challenge Crew: To make sure you qualify by the official rules, please be sure that a parent or guardian accompanies you if you are under the age of 18.
