Madden Advances to Quarterfinals With Upset

The Fire Madden team saw ECAC playoff success with three total series wins, including a massive upset victory that saw the 31 seeded Fire knock off the second seeded Post University Eagles.
 
Both Austin Klokus (31) and Isaac Erickson (8) escaped round one with wins. After losing game one of the series, Erickson blew his opponent out of the water with two dominant wins. He ended game one with 42-14 and 41-7 victories. The Fire (8) player fell to George Fox University (9) in the second round.
 
Erickson ends his sophomore season with a 6-2 regular season record, an eighth seed playoff berth, and a top ten finish on the season.
 
Klokus edged out a 2-0 win against #2 ranked Post University that was highlighted by a 50 yard touchdown catch and run by tight end Travis Kelce and a pick-6 game winner from cornerback Ekow Boye-Doe. The final score of game one was 35-32, and game two finished with a 22-10 victory.
 
In round two, the Fire faced off against Southern Arkansas University (18). Klokus opened the match with a 70 yard drive that ended in a touchdown by Chiefs running back Isaiah Pacheco. SAU was quick to respond, effortlessly traversing the field to score a touchdown of their own. Klokus stalled on offense, throwing an interception trying to test Jets free safety Chuck Clark. SAU capitalized on the turnover with a touchdown pass to Xavier Gipson. Down 24-14 exiting the third quarter, Klokus marched down the field with Patrick Mahomes to make the score 24-21. After failing to force a stop all game, Klokus finally got a red zone pick-6 after the two minute warning, sealing a 28-24 victory.
 
Game two was a much lower scoring affair. The two players exchanged touchdowns early before defense took over. SAU was up 10-7 exiting the third when Klokus picked him off again in the red zone. The Fire managed to chew most of the fourth quarter, sending the 10-10 game to overtime. The Chiefs won the toss, so Klokus chose to get the ball first. He stalled early, finding himself in a fourth-and-6 situation at his own 35. Electing to go for it, Patrick Mahomes found Travis Kelce on a corner route to keep the drive alive. That play sparked a thirty yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Rashee Rice. In a must score situation, SAU threw an interception to give the Fire a 17-10 win.
 
"In the first round I felt like the guy wrote me off before the game even started," Klokus remarked after the upset victory. "He was the two seed and I was the 31 seed, so I doubt he expected a fight. Personally I love being the underdog. No expectations, no pressure. It's always fun to play spoiler, so I wasn't about to pass up that opportunity."
 
With the double header sweep from Klokus, the Fire advance to the round of 8 in the ECAC playoffs. Klokus (31) is slated to play Clarke Madden Navy (10) on Thursday, April 11th at 8 p.m.