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Joke Beats DCroft 17-0 to Win Madden NFL 20 Bowl, $65,000 Prize
May 17, 2020
No. 1 seed Joke has finally broken through in the Madden Championship Series, shutting out DCroft 17-0 in the Madden NFL 20 Bowl to win his first title belt and the $65,000 prize.
The 27-year-old, whose real name is Raidel Brito, was playing from his West New York, New Jersey, home, where his family burst into the room to celebrate once the clock hit zero.
When the tournament seeds were announced, Joke revealed that he was dedicating his run to the late Taylor Robertson, better known as Spotme, who died in a mass shooting at a Madden tournament in Jacksonville, Florida, in 2019.
"It's good that I got to win the tournament that before it started I knew I was going to dedicate to him," Joke said. "And it's good that I finally got the monkey off my back...I can't wait to get that trophy in the mail so I can hoist it. "
Joke finished the season ranked atop the MCS points leaderboard. Before Saturday he was No. 5 on the all-time MCS money list with $175,525 and with the highest win rate this season (87.1 percent).
Now Joke has his signature victory, using his running attack to burn the clock and a strong pass defense to keep the high-octane offense of DCroft unable to move the ball downfield.
After taking a 7-0 lead at halftime, Joke was able to break free with Gale Sayers at midfield to go up by what felt like an insurmountable two-touchdown lead.
That was more than enough to end DCroft's hunt for the title and instead left him hoping to put any points on the board at all. Once a shutout became a legitimate possibility, Joke made sure he could complete it, clamping down against the pass and holding his opponent scoreless.
Here's how the rest of the day turned out:
Semifinal Results:
DCroft def. CleffTheGod, 21-14
Joke def. Pavan, 17-9
Final Results:
Joke vs. DCroft, 17-0
CleffTheGod and Pavan exit the tournament with $20,000 each for their efforts. DCroft earned $25,000.
Joke entered Saturday's action with a 1-3 record in EA Major tournaments and needing a big statement to show he'd be able to contend for his first title belt.
A pick-six off Pavan on the first play from scrimmage did the trick. Pavan miscalculated a sideline route that Joke was able to easily jump and run back untouched. Not long after, when Joke finally got his offense on the field, he used Sayers to power downfield to go up 14-0 at halftime.
It was a disaster of a semifinal performance for Pavan. Aside from his early interception, Pavan continually found himself stuck when he made it to Joke's 20-yard line. In three red-zone trips, Pavan could only come away with field goals.
DCroft also came out strong in his semifinal matchup against CleffTheGod. After a back-and-forth first half, the 19-year-old opened the third quarter with a strip-sack on Cleff that DCroft recovered at the 30-yard line and ran back for a touchdown.
The scoop-n-score forced Cleff to play more aggressively down the stretch, which backfired when he got stopped on fourth down at the 8-yard line with three minutes to play. Two plays after the turnover on downs, DCroft hit Marquise Brown for a 93-yard touchdown pass to seal the win and set up a showdown with Joke.