Mink and Co. Return Home for Opening Round
July 7, 2006 - National Indoor Football League (NIFL)
Montgomery Bears News Release
(MONTGOMERY, AL) The Montgomery Maulers will travel to Lakeland, FL, this Saturday to take on the Lakeland Thunderbolts in the opening round of the National Indoor Football League (NIFL) Play-Offs. The Thunderbolts finished out their 2006 regular season campaign at 12-2, and clinched the Atlantic Conference Southern Division Championship. The Maulers closed out their regular season at 7-7, and are entering this weekend's contest at the Lakeland Center in Florida, as the Atlantic Conference's number six seed.
Maulers Head Coach Michael Mink and Assistant Head Coach BJ Jernigan are especially looking forward to this weekend's road trip, largely due to the fact that in a sense, they will be playing in front of their home crowd. "I am excited. A lot of my family and friends are going to be able to make it out to the game [Saturday night] and see what we've been doing on all our trips to Montgomery," said Mink, a Tampa native. "I'm really proud of the players on this team and how this organization has developed...I'm really looking forward to this trip and letting everyone see what we are all about."
Mink and Jernigan also serve as the Head Coach and Linebackers Coach for the Gulf Coast Raiders; a Minor League Football team and member Southern States Football League (SSFL), based out of Tampa. Mink and Jernigan captained the Raiders to a 9-2, record and clinched the Southern Division National Football Conference (NFC) Championship in their 2006 inaugural season.
This weekend's game will also be a sort of homecoming for Mauler's linemen Antonio Searcy ( University of South Florida), Curtis Chance ( University of South Florida), Downey Belidore ( University of South Florida) and utility man Octavius "Gator" Day ( Gulf Coast), who reside in and around the Tampa Bay area. Searcy, Chance and Day were all former teammates on the NFC Championship Raider team.
"This is a great opportunity for Searc, Chance, Downey and Gator. They leave their families every week and travel to Montgomery for practices and workouts...this weekend, their families will get a chance to see the amount of dedication and hard work they have put into this team," said Mink.
The Maulers are coming off a forfeit win over the Charleston SandSharks last weekend, due to Charleston's violating the NIFL explicit rules against the use of ineligible players. The Maulers and SandSharks did play last Saturday's game; however, statistics from that game have been tossed and the 39-28, win in Charleston's favor has been disregarded due the game being declared a forfeit.
Mauler's General Manager, John Morris, commented earlier in the week on the Charleston's use of illegal players and praised the league for their efficiency in tending to the matter. "It is an unfortunate event for the Charleston players and for their fans, but it was not fair and it really put our guys at a disadvantage...I really can't say enough about how grateful we are that the league stepped in and handled this so professionally and quickly," said Morris.
Lakeland had an off week, this past weekend after securing a play-off berth in their 44-23 win over the Osceola Outlaws on June 24.
Kick-off for Saturday's game is set for 7:00 PM.
National Indoor Football League Stories from July 7, 2006
- Rage Press Conference - RiverCity Rage
- ThunderBolts-Maulers Playoff Preview - Lakeland ThunderBolts
- Drillers/Ford Arena expect full capacity on Saturday - Beaumont Drillers
- Mink and Co. Return Home for Opening Round - Montgomery Bears
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