Dodge County earns school’s first Esports state championship title with Madden victory

DODGE COUNTY, Ga. — Video games are extremely popular for people of all ages, especially teenagers – but not many players can say they earned a state championship trophy for it. 

However, Dodge County Indian Adam Smith can say he took home the gold for GHSA Esports in Madden.

“EA sports – it’s in the game” has become a popular phrase in Smith’s life. It’s the first thing he hears when he powers up his favorite video game, Madden. It wasn’t any different at the state championship tournament.

“I don’t think they have many, especially for Esports. So, it was good. I feel like I accomplished something pretty big,” Smith said.

Smith is credited for Dodge County’s first ever Esports title.

“It felt really good, especially because I wanted to win, and I of course wanted to accomplish the goal. I mean, that was the end goal when I started, so it felt really good,” Smith said.

“He’s quiet, He’s respectful. I’ve never seen him get upset or angry or really even anxious. He’ll just sit there and calmly think through his strategies and win a state championship title,” said co-head coach Ashley Hodge.

The moment when Smith might’ve been slightly less composed was in the semifinal round. He was down by four points with seven seconds left on the clock. 

Smith played as his go to team, the Philadelphia Eagles. He passed the ball as Jalen Hurts to the corner of the endzone and scored the final touchdown to win the game and advance to the state championship round. 

Smith beat Towers High School, a school that previously won nationals and state, for the trophy.

“I was nervous, of course, like while I was playing and stuff, because I wanted to do good. So when I was actually able to win, and it was a good feeling,” Smith said.

The passion for playing video games started at 10 years old for Smith. He said once he found out how to play online against other people he wanted to practice to get better and it took off from there.

Hodge co-head coaches with Clint Sanders. She hopes the program will grow even more following Smith’s win.

“Hopefully this will bring in some of the football players, they’ll say, ‘Oh, you can get a state championship title in electronic football.’ So now we’re hoping in the off season, some of them will come over and get some tips from Adam,” Hodge said.

Smith will be competing in the national championship in the PlayerVS Cup later this May. 

Also, for Central Georgia titles, Treutlen won in Rocket League over Whitewater.