Online voters picked a video of a one-handed interception by Flora, Ill., High School Wolves linebacker Jordan Luttrell as the grand prize winner in the UPS Delivery Intercept Challenge Video Contest, a search for the country's greatest amateur football interceptions.

Jordan's interception came on Oct. 5, 2007, and saved a sure touchdown, according to his uncle, Robert Boose, who captured the moment on video and submitted it to the contest.

For submitting the grand prize video, Boose will receive $25,000 in cash and a $10,000 donation to the amateur football team of his choice, which he plans to steer to the Flora High football program. Former NFL quarterback Archie Manning, who served as the contest's spokesperson and helped pick eight finalists, will be coming to Flora to deliver the prize at a celebratory tailgate party.

"The whole town got behind this," Boose said. "It's been pretty amazing."

Boose, a member of the local Quarterback Club, said the $10,000 donation may go to establish a fund to build a new field house at the high school.

Second prize - $7,500 in cash and a $5,000 donation - goes to Denise Mitchell of Holton, Mich., who submitted a video of a youth game in which her quarterback son Garret throws an interception, then chases the defensive player all the way to the 1 yard line and pulls him back to prevent a touchdown. Mitchell said she plans to steer the donation to the recreational youth league in Holton.

And third prize - $5,000 in cash and a $2,500 donation - goes to Lee Kirby of Keller, Texas, who submitted a video of his daughter, Alyssa, making a game-winning interception and touchdown runback in the last 30 seconds of the annual girls' "powder puff"game. Alyssa's mom can be heard screaming in the stands.

"It was great to see these amazing videos come streaming in from all over the country and we're delighted to provide some much-needed funding to eight amateur teams," said Alan Gershenhorn, UPS senior vice president of worldwide sales and marketing. "In addition, the contest has been a great opportunity to build awareness of UPS Delivery Intercept, which provides our customers an unprecedented level of control over their shipments."

The contest drew more than 175 highlight-reel videos from all over the country. The 175 then were narrowed to eight finalists by an elite panel of judges including Manning; star New England linebacker (and The UPS Store franchisee) Rosevelt Colvin; Director Joe Bouffard of Youth Football USA, and President Joe Galat of American Youth Football and Cheer.

Online voting from Dec. 17 through Jan. 4 chose the three top winners, but the remaining five finalists are winners as well. The submitter of each will receive $750 in cash and a $250 donation to the amateur team of his choice. The five are:

Butte Pirates. Arco, Idaho. With two minutes left in the game and the score tied at 6-6, Brandon intercepts a pass and runs it in for the winning touchdown. Submitted by Kevin Pearson of Moore, Idaho.

 

John Stark Regional Generals. Weare, N.H. Danny makes a break on the ball for the pickoff and returns it 50 yards for a touchdown. Submitted by Bill Raycraft of Weare.

 

Woodruff High School. Peoria, Ill. Michael intercepts the ball and runs it back for a touchdown, the first time the Red team had been scored on in two seasons. Submitted by Michael Aldrich of Peoria.

 

Mount Desert Island High School Trojans. Bar Harbor, Maine. Terrence grabs the ball out of the air for an interception and returns it 57 yards for a touchdown with mom cheering him on. Submitted by Duane Crawford, Lamoine, Maine.

 

Southeastern RVT Hawks. South Easton, Mass. How fast can a 250-pound linebacker run? You be the judge on Matthew's 93-yard interception return for a touchdown. Submitted by Jeffrey Cziska, New Bedford, Mass.

In addition to the UPS Delivery Intercept Video Contest UPS also offered the UPS Delivery Intercept Instant Win Game and Customer Sweepstakes. This interactive football-themed game attracted UPS customers to learn more about UPS Delivery Intercept for an opportunity to play, win prizes and receive entries into a sweepstakes.

Paul Price of Hoover, Ala., won the Instant Win Game grand prize of "The Ultimate Tailgate Package" including a Dodge Ram 1500 Quad Cab pickup, a Hitachi 42-inch widescreen plasma TV, a Bose® speaker system, among other prizes.

Price spent his professional career with the Birmingham Police Department and served in Germany with the Alabama Air National Guard as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Price chose to receive the cash equivalent. He was one of nearly 750 prize winners in the Instant Win Game. More than 78,000 people registered to play the game.

You can view all the prize-winners along with the other 168 video entrees at www.ups.com/challenge.

 

 

 

Follow