Tyler Tony lined up a wrist shot from just inside the blue line, fired, and the puck found the back of the net with 30 seconds left on the clock. The ice rink erupted. ‘Tarps off, baby,’ someone hollered, and that pretty much captured the afternoon. Dude Perfect had spent a full day turning the video game Rocket League into a four-round real-world elimination gauntlet, and by the time it reached a 2-on-2 hockey match on actual ice, it had become something genuinely difficult to script. The five original members plus intern Jackson competed across go-kart soccer, speed golf, ice hockey, and go-kart archery tag, with the losing dude from each round packing up and heading home until one person stood at the end holding a gold cart.
Go-kart soccer goes to overtime and the votes get personal
Round one split the group into two three-man squads playing soccer in go-karts, using a large ball and a full-size goal. Blue jumped out to a one-nothing lead, then red clawed back. Then blue tied it. Then red pulled ahead three to two before blue answered again to make it four-four, which sent the game to sudden death overtime. Tyler, who commentators had been calling Captain Clutch all day, set up the winning sequence, and red won five to four. The losing blue team then had to vote someone off by writing a name on a whiteboard. Garrett and Cody both voted for Cody. ‘I gave up the final goal,’ Cody said plainly. ‘I got injured and I can’t really compete.’ He walked.
Round two was speed golf: three holes, go-karts, and a timer running the entire time instead of a stroke count. Cory led wire to wire. Jackson, the intern making his first appearance in a Dude Perfect battle, tried playing defense against Cody in hole three rather than racing toward his own ball, burning precious seconds. When the dust settled, Cody and Jackson were separated by exactly nine seconds, one finishing at 3 minutes 28 seconds and the other at 3 minutes 37 seconds. Jackson’s defensive gamble had worked. Cody was out.
The intern who showed up to the ice rink and refused to leave quietly
With four players left, the format shifted to a two-on-two hockey match on ice: Tyler and Jackson in red versus the twins Cory and Kobe in blue. Jackson had never played hockey before. Tyler put it simply before the opening face-off: ‘Good luck, kid.’ But Jackson logged two goals and a critical late assist, and red won in a frantic finish capped by Tyler’s wrist shot. ‘The intern is looking like a full-time employee today,’ the commentary noted. ‘He brought his A-game.’
The finale was go-kart archery tag, pop all of your opponent’s balloons before they pop yours, first to two of three rounds wins. Tyler was immediate and decisive. He described the first round honestly afterward: ‘It didn’t feel like a competition.’ Jackson battled back in round two, surviving long enough to pop a balloon and keep the crowd engaged. Tyler closed it out in round three with what one bystander described as a 180-degree quick scope from a moving kart. Jackson, who had driven an hour to compete, noted the finale was ‘over in about four seconds.’
The gold cart waiting at the finish line
Tyler Tony was handed the gold cart and immediately took it for a lap.
Back on the go-kart soccer field where it all started, a single whiteboard sat near the edge of the court, the same one Cody had written his own name on a few hours earlier. Nobody picked it up.
