Video games knock Stevenson junior off 'Jeopardy!'

A Stevenson High School junior competing in the "Jeopardy!" game show's teen tournament has been knocked out before the final round.

Despite the loss, 16-year-old Zach Blumenfeld earned $10,000 for his effort. He doesn't know what he's going to do with the cash.

"I don't know if I've ever had that much money at one time," he said. "It's going to take some consideration."

Blumenfeld was one of 15 teens from across the country competing in the contest. The eventual winner will take home a cash prize of $75,000.

The teens competed on the trivia-related show, hosted by Alex Trebek, over two days in August. Five episodes were filed each day, Blumenfeld said.

"It's very efficient," he said.

Blumenfeld appeared on two episodes, the second of which ran Monday on ABC 7.

Blumenfeld's mom, Susan, said her son was done in by a category about video games. One of the other teens, Aidan Mehigan of McLean, Va., cleaned up in the category and was the episode's winner.

"(Zach) is not a video game kid," she said. "Give him world history and he's in good shape."

Zach placed the blame elsewhere.

"The bottom line is, my timing wasn't as good on the buzzer as it was in the first episode," he said. "It's tough to get the timing of Trebek's voice down. I guess my timing just wasn't as good Monday."

Susan Blumenfeld said she's proud of her son.

"To get on stage on national television and have to think on your feet and compete against other kids who are equally as bright is, to me, an incredibly challenging experience," she said.

The "Jeopardy!" teen tournament airs each day this week at 3:30 p.m. on ABC 7. The final episode will run Friday.