The life of a minor league football team is not always an easy one but that is not new to NEPA’s newest minor league ball club. Players working 9-5 jobs and then practicing three hours in the evening for the love of the game or for an opportunity to play at a higher level. Players travel one to three hours to be a part of this football fraternity while coaches and management take on the added responsibility along with holding jobs and raising families. All being said, the NEPA Miners have come out of the gates strong. A 6-2 start on the field and a foundation being built in the ever competitive business area of NEPA. Team President and Head Coach Dan LaMagna is pleased with the early accomplishments of the players and coaches along with the support of family, friends and fans to help build his vision of improving minor league football and giving back to the community. “We have accomplished a lot in a short time but still have many hurdles to clear.” On the field the Miners continue to look more like a contender and less like a first year ball club. The Miners have won six games and only losing two to the top ranked team in the country and division rival Central Penn Piranha. “We have played them well; we just need to be more consistent through four quarters of football.” “We’re not going away; our goal is to win out our last three regular season games and put ourselves in position to knock off the big boys in the NAFL tournament.”
The Miners have the talent to do that with a defensive unit that has been consistently strong all season and an offense that has many weapons. Marty Evans, the team’s defensive coordinator has kept the pressure on opposing offenses all season holding opponents to under two touchdowns in 7 of 8 games. The defense has been led by the strong defensive line play of Malcolm Singleton, Chris Hoover and Mike Collins with big plays being made by Linebackers Lati Woodruff, Jamie Hoover and Shamar Robinson and stingy pass defense by Rasheen “Rock” Smith, Jamie Kendrick and John Solano. The offense has overcome late signings and injuries to an offensive line that has been anchored by the strong blocking of Sean Hill, Ed Meehan and Al Davis. JP Antosh led the offense early in the season before moving over to help the defensive secondary after the Miners signed Quarterback Kelvin Robinson to give the team more depth at the Quarterback position. Kelvin Robinson has done a good job of spreading the ball around in Coach LaMagnas’ West Coast Offense. Talented backfield trio of power back Donnie Jackson-Bey, speedster Damon Saxon and the elusive Andre Chollete along with leading receiver Matthew Pfancook, the solid play of receivers Jeremy Kendrick, George Graham and Keair Hopewell. “Many players have stepped up but I think our best football is ahead as some players are yet to break out.” I would look for improved play from Robinson, Graham, the tight ends and secondary as we make our late season run.
The NEPA Miners are in great position for the post season despite the growing pains of a first year organization along the way. Team management has already begun taking some steps to strengthen the organization and expand operations for next year but is currently focused on the task at hand. The Miners will be on the road the next two weeks versus the Chambersburg Cardinals and the NY Panthers and then returns home to Scranton Memorial on Sunday September 23rd versus the Lancaster Lightning. The Miners fans will be entertained with a live performance from “Shoot the Moon” on the 23rd, an up and coming band who recently opened for Poison at the Toyota Pavilion in Scranton. The Miners are currently pursuing sponsors and mutual promotions for the remainder of the regular season and the post season. Hopefully the first year NEPA Miners can finish the regular season on a win streak and go deep into the post season tournament!
This entry was posted on Sunday, September 2, 2007 and is filed under Miners News. 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!
