Top-seeded Jacob “Fancy” Worthington and second-seeded Jonathan “JonBeast” Marquez charged into the semifinals of the $1 million Madden Championship Series playoffs with one-sided wins on Wednesday.
Fancy, a Frisco, Texas, resident who owns two MCS championship belts, produced a 34-21 victory over eighth-seeded Wesley “Wesley” Gittens of Austin Texas. Wesley is the second all-time-leading money winner in series history.
JonBeast of Hartford, Conn., one of just three players ever to win three MCS title belts, powered to a 44-16 win over 10th-seeded David “DavidT” Tampellini of Patchogue, N.Y.
Fancy and JonBeast will play their semifinal matches on Jan. 29 against to-be-determined opponents. With one more win, they would face off in the Madden Bowl.
Earlier Wednesday, the last two first-round matches were held. No. 12 Tyjhir “TJ” Joyner of Dover, Del., pulled out a 37-36 win over No. 5 Dwayne “Cleff” Wood of Oak Hill, Fla.; and No. 13 Taylor “BigTay” Hodge of Atlanta outscored No. 4 Christian “No Mercy Lambo” Webb of Hagerstown, Md., 45-38.
TJ and BigTay are each in search of their first MCS title.
The MCS playoffs resume Jan. 29 with four matches:
–Quarterfinal: No. 3 Abram “Abram” Joseph of Houston vs. No. 11 Seamus “Kiv” Kivlen of Seattle
–Quarterfinal: TJ vs. BigTay
–Semifinal: JonBeast vs. Abram/Kiv winner
–Semifinal: Fancy vs. TJ/BigTay winner
The Madden Bowl is scheduled for Feb. 7 in New Orleans, the same city where the Super Bowl will be held two days later. Country singer/songwriter Chris Stapleton, rapper/singer Jelly Roll and country/hip-hop artist Shaboozey are set to perform at the Madden Bowl.
Madden Championship Series prize pool (total $1 million)
1. $250,000
2. $150,000
3-4. $100,000
5-8. $55,000 — Wesley, DavidT, two players TBD
9-14. $30,000 — Astro, Dez, sYoDrip, MrFootball88, Cleff, Lambo
–Field Level Media