Miners Rally Late, Lions Look Forward to Beaumont

The Lions lost a heartbreaker in overtime on Saturday against the Wheeling Miners. The Lions fought well against a late comeback up until a comedy of errors led to the Miners erasing the 16-point cushion to take the game into overtime.

Although the Lions came up short in the 47-44 loss, the team and staff are fully aware that one game cannot and will not define this team. In a short teaser for a full-length interview to be posted later this week, Coach Damien Daniels stated: “Fans should know, this isn’t us. We lost a little focus, and that isn’t us.” He also spoke at length about Beaumont and what to expect, but more on that later this week.

As for Lions offensive standouts, the unit were clicking on the ground for the bulk of the game. Every one of the Lions 6 touchdowns came from the rushing attack put out by QB Tremell Gooden, WR Traveon Samuel, and RB Marco Lee. Needless to say, the best was made out of a bad situation for the bulk of the game.

On the defensive side of the ball, booming hits were seen left right and center thanks to the frame of LB Ronald Malbrough. 10 tackles for him on the night, and I’m convinced you could hear all 10 from the top row. The entire secondary was also superb, as well. The DBs deserve a shoutout for breaking up passes all night long, with 5 defended passes and 1 interception. That doesn’t tell the whole story, though, as the DBs often made the Miners QB have to adapt and try something thanks to just elite coverage all game long. The defense was stifling, but that continued pressure took its toll, ultimately resulting in an exhausted unit defending an offense who had found their second wind.

Columbus is looking forward, though, and refuses to let one tough loss define them. The squad will head into Beaumont with a chip on its shoulder to play a team they have a 1-1 record with so far this year. The team will be ready, and it will be an electric football game. Join me on June 7th over on the National Arena League Youtube channel to cheer our boys on from home!

- Riley Bloodsworth (06/02/2025)