Hunsberger Rallies Past Traill in First-Ever NECC Madden PS4 Championship Series

MANSFIELD, Mass.- In an all-Eastern Nazarene College finale, Logan Hunsberger (Telford, Pa.) topped Ozzy Traill III (Valley Stream, N.Y.) 2-1 to claim the first-ever New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Madden PlayStation 4 Championship Sunday night.

Hunsberger, an assistant coach with the ENC men's and women's volleyball teams, chose to play with his hometown Philadelphia Eagles. Traill, a rising senior on the Lions' men's basketball team, decided to play with the Baltimore Ravens and NFL MVP Lamar Jackson.

In game one, Traill fended off Hunsberger to claim a 49-38 victory as Jackson accounted for seven touchdowns – running in six touchdowns and slinging one.

After Hunsberger opening the contest with a rushing touchdown, Traill scored twice to take a 14-6 edge. Hunsberger responded with a receiving touchdown by Nelson Agholor to cut the deficit to 14-12.

Traill added another rushing touchdown by the Baltimore dual-threat and Hunsberger knocked in a late field goal as Traill held a 21-15 halftime advantage.

Both teams scored a touchdown and a two-point conversion before Traill tacked on a pair of touchdowns to widen the margin to 42-23 heading into the fourth quarter.

Hunsberger started the final frame with a rushing touchdown but Traill rebounded with Jackson's sixth rushing TD of the game to grab a 49-30 lead. Hunsberger's Eagles battled back with a rushing touchdown and two-point conversion to narrow the gap to 49-38.

After the Ravens recovered the ensuing onside kick, Traill was able to run out the final seconds of the contest to capture the game-one victory.

In game two of the series, Hunsberger responded with a dominant effort to secure a 35-3 win and even the series.

Hunsberger started strong with four touchdowns and four defensive takeaways in the first half to seize a 28-0 advantage as Zach Ertz hauled in a touchdown catch and Jordan Howard galloped into the end zone three times.

Traill got on the board late in the game with a field goal but Hunsberger answered with Howard's fourth rushing touchdown to stretch his lead to 35-3.

In the winner-take-all third game of the championship series, Hunsberger carried the momentum from his game two victory into the third clash to earn a 48-21 win to close out the series.

Traill opened the scoring in the first quarter with a touchdown catch by Willie Snead to establish a 7-0 lead. Hunsberger answered with a 31-yard rushing touchdown by Howard to level the contest at 7-7 before jumping ahead 14-7 on a second-quarter touchdown run by the running back out of the University of Indiana.

The Eagles added a touchdown by Miles Sanders with 22 seconds left to play in the second period to extend the lead to 21-7. Traill took the ensuing kickoff 98 yards to the house to trim the margin to 21-14.

Hunsberger rushed into the end zone with Howard on his first possession of the third quarter to regain a 14-point edge, 28-14. The Eagles capitalized on a fumble returned to the one-yard line by Rodney McLeod as Sanders punched in his second touchdown of the contest to push the lead to 34-14.

Hunsberger tacked on another rushing score by Howard late in the third quarter to stretch the Eagles' advantage to 41-14.

Traill picked up a rushing touchdown with Mark Ingram to narrow the deficit to 41-21 in the fourth.

With 2:10 remaining in the game, Hunsberger increased his lead to 48-21 as Carson Wentz tossed a touchdown pass to DeSean Jackson to seal the win.

"After the first game, I thought there was no way I was going to win a championship the way that Lamar ran all over the place. In games two and three, I just found formations that worked and I was able to contain Lamar to the pocket and made him throw the ball," commented Hunsberger in a post-series interview with NECC Commissioner Jacob VanRyn.

Hunsberger will receive a championship trophy and t-shirt along with the distinction of the league's first-ever Madden PlayStation4 champion.