Miners set for kickoff
by Don McGlynn, Weekender Correspondent
Article published 6/23/2007, The NEPA Weekender
After months of anticipation, the Northeastern Pennsylvania Miners, NEPA’s newest minor league football team, are ready to hit the field and will kick off their first season this Saturday at Scranton’s Memorial Stadium.
While minor league football is nothing new to the area - the Scranton Eagles have been playing in the area for years - the special thing about the Miners is they belong to the North American Football League (NAFL), which will bring in a broader array of gird-iron talent to the area.
“The NAFL is one of the largest minor league football leagues in the country. It’s a nationwide based league, as opposed to the Scranton Eagles which is more of local system, so the talent pool is much larger and tougher,” explained Miner’s head coach Dan Lamagna.
“This league has become a feeding system into the Canadian and arena football leagues, and there have even been a few who have made it to tryouts with NFL teams. I think that this will be the start of raising the bar for football in the area. Much like what the Red Barons and Yankees have done for baseball, and the Penguins are doing for hockey, we’re hoping we’ll do for football in this area.”
There are over 100 teams competing in the NAFL, making the odds of a brand new team going far minimal, but still coach Lamagna is confident his team has something special and could make their mark on the league as soon as this year.
“I was assistant coach for an NAFL team in Binghamton a few years ago, and we made it all the way to the final tournament. Every year the top 32 teams in the league go to a playoff tournament. This year it will be held in Vegas. My team from Binghamton made it to the tournament and got knocked off in the early rounds, but this team has the potential to make it to the tournament and go further than they did. That’s our goal, to make it to Vegas. We definitely have the talent on this team, with a good mix of local guys and experienced veterans.”
One of those veterans includes the backbone of this team, running back Donnie Jackson Bey, who will no doubt set history this year, as he is only 336 yards away from breaking the minor league rushing yard record, which is held by former Scranton Eagle Frank Yanik with 15,301 yards. This should add an extra amount of excitement to each game, as each week Bey will slowly close the gap.
“We’re very excited about having Bey. He’s been in this league a number of years and with him about to break the record is just a tribute to his longevity in this game. He’s an outstanding athlete. He’s had a few tryouts with NFL teams, and he’s thrilled to be breaking the record here. He actually played for Lackawanna Junior College, and played for the Scranton Eagles as well,” said Lamagna.
“We have a lot of exciting players on the team. In addition to Bey, we were lucky in that we have outstanding guys in all the skill positions, including rookie quarterback J.P. Antosh, who’s very exciting to watch, and NAFL all-stars Sean Hill and Malcolm Singleton.”
The area will have their first chance to check out this new group of talent when the Miners take on the Schuylkill County Coal Crackers this Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
“This will be a non-league game, and we’re hoping it to make it a tradition. Every year we want to play our first game against the Coal Crackers for the Miner’s Cup, at Memorial Stadium,” added Lamagna.
Even though their first game will be held at Memorial Stadium, it will not be the team’s permanent home. The Miners will play half of their home games there and the other half at Lake Lehman’s Edward Edwards Stadium, to give everyone a chance to catch the excitement.
“We’re not the Scranton Miners or the Wilkes-Barre Miners, we’re the NEPA Miners and we want to give everyone in NEPA a chance to see us, so we decided to not pick one location, and, rather, split the games up so everyone in the community will have a chance to see us at an easily accessible area. That’s why we’re here, to help the community,” explained Lamagna.
The team’s season schedule is available on their website at www.nepaminers.com, and if you’re disappointed you missed the March tryouts for the team, you still might have a chance to get in the action.
“We’re still looking to fill a few positions. We’re a little thin in the tight end position, so anyone interested in joining the team can contact me,” said Lamagna.
Coach Lamagna can be contacted by clicking here. Tickets for the game will be available at the gate the day of the game.
What: The NEPA Miners
Where: Memorial Stadium,
Providence Road, Scranton
When: June 30, 2007 7:05 p.m.
Cost: $8
