Northeastern Pennsylvania is talked about as a huge football area, if you have not seen a NEPA Miners game this season, you need to! What a difference a year makes as the Miners are showing great character battling weekly in the demanding Regional American Football League. Miners opponents have a combined RAFL record of 41-23 with five opponents headed to the playoffs. The NEPA Miners ran their regular season record to 7-2-1 (6-2-1 RAFL) on Saturday in the most impressive fashion. The Miners faced a league giant on the road in the New Jersey Wolves who are now 7-2 in the league and are battling to win their division as are the Miners.
The Wolves owned the first half as the Miners came out flat and surrendered two passing touchdowns to put them down 12-0 at the half. The Miners regrouped at half time and brought their never say die attitude into the second half. The Wolves were stymied out of the gate and faced third down and twenty six on their first drive of the second half before a Wolves running back broke loose to get a first down and lead a Wolves drive down to the twenty five yard line. Wolves Quarterback Mark Johnson did not see Miners linebacker Mike McGee who intercepted his pass and jump started the Miners comeback. The offense was sparked all night by the running game led by Damon Saxon who carried the ball 15 times for 87 yards before Quarterback J.P. Antosh got the hot hand and completed his final eight throws of the second half. Two of those passes were scoring strikes to wide outs Matt Phancook in the third quarter and Jeremy Kendrick with 4:08 left in the 4th quarter. The Wolves would try to drive again but only to be held by the stingy Miners defense as Linebacker Donnie Jackson-Bey led the team with seven tackles and a sack. The Miners iced the game with a 7 yard completion to Andre Chollette on third and seven enabling the Miners to run out the clock and let the Miners sidelines celebrate as they clinched an RAFL playoff birth.
Despite clinching a playoff birth, the Miners have a lot on the line in their final regular season home game on October 4th. Our hometown team will utilize the bye week to get healthy and spend an extra week preparing for the Hudson County Bounty Hunters. The Miners will be watching other scores knowing they can gain a higher playoff seed and a North East Division Title with some help and a win versus the Bounty Hunters who are fighting for their playoff lives with a record of 5-5 and are favorites going into their game versus the Empire State Titans this weekend. The Miners can also set the mark for best record in the teams two year history with a win. October 4th will be a festive night with a playoff atmosphere as Scranton Memorial Stadium is the host of the Regional Atlantic Bowl II on November 1st. Female R & B group Minxx will make there NEPA debut with a halftime concert, Buttons the Clown and the Miners Girls will entertain the fans while the voice of the Yankees John Davies will announce the game. GO MINERS!!!!
This entry was posted on Monday, September 22, 2008 and is filed under Miners News, Upcoming Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.
The North East Pennsylvania (NEPA) Miners are a minor league football team bringing a first of its kind football league to North Eastern Pennsylvania that will set the Miners apart from their competitors. While the Miners represent all of North East Pennsylvania, their basis of operations is the Poconos, encompassing the areas of Wilkes-Barre and Scranton. The Miners play in the Regional Atlantic Football League (RAFL) with home games at the area’s finest facilities.
The Miners’ goal is to serve the people of North East Pennsylvania with year-round community service while providing superior customer service and quality family entertainment on Saturday nights during the football season. Led by their President and Head Coach Daniel LaMagna and supported by Charlie Wysocki — a Wilkes-Barre native and legendary football player — the Miners aim to exemplify the utmost in sportsmanship while entertaining their fans. We are Scranton Football at its finest!
Northeastern Pennsylvania is talked about as a huge football area, if you have not seen a NEPA Miners game this season, you need to! What a difference a year makes as the Miners are showing great character battling weekly in the demanding Regional American Football League. Miners opponents have a combined RAFL record of 41-23 with five opponents headed to the playoffs. The NEPA Miners ran their regular season record to 7-2-1 (6-2-1 RAFL) on Saturday in the most impressive fashion. The Miners faced a league giant on the road in the New Jersey Wolves who are now 7-2 in the league and are battling to win their division as are the Miners.
