Fancy, JonBeast roll into Madden playoff semifinals

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