Minersville Area Battlin’ Miners – 2026 Football Preview

MINERSVILLE – Coming off a 9-3 season in 2025, the Battlin’ Miners are entering the 2026 season with a lot of unknown answers to big questions on both sides of the ball after graduating one of the best senior classes in program and school history. Without Dante Carr, who the offense has been centered around for the last three seasons, Minersville intends to establish a new identity as a team instead of having one guy stand out. 

They enter the new season with a mix of veteran leadership, inexperienced underclassmen who will be getting a solid amount of playing time right away, and athletic upperclassmen who are new to the sport. A little under half of the roster is made up of freshman players.

“We’re going to be more varied than we’ve been,” Frantz said. Some of the things displayed on the field are things that he has never done in his coaching career such as two tight ends and two to three running backs he also told me. In terms of both lines, there are going to be some new faces such as sophomore Brody Rogers, senior Chase Beach, and juniors Rashaw Leary and Thomas Zimmerman, and several freshman.

Coaching staff

• Head Coach – Justin Frantz (8th season, 47-29)
• Assistant Coaches – Chad Marquardt, Jesse White, Dan Hopkins, Joe Kavanaugh, Gino Yourey, Jared Graeff, Jose Urquiza, Johnny Adams, Jeff Cutler, Owen Fortna, Jake Kavanaugh, Shayne Schafer, Scott Yagielniske

2026 schedule (all regular season games at 7pm)

• Scrimmage Saturday (8/22 @ 10am) – vs Nativity BVM and Shenandoah Valley

• Week One (8/28) – vs Halifax
• Week Two (9/4) – @ Jim Thorpe
• Week Three (9/11) – vs Northern Lebanon
• Week Four (9/18) – @ Marian Catholic
• Week Five (9/24) – vs Tri-Valley
• Week Six (10/2) – @ Shenandoah Valley
• Week Seven (10/9) – vs Williams Valley
• Week Eight (10/16) – @ Mahanoy Area
• Week Nine (10/23) – vs Schuylkill Haven
• Week 10 (10/30) – @ Nativity BVM

Key starters lost

• Dante Carr
• Matt Dube
• Gavin Spirko
• Dominico Yourey
• Ty Atkinson
• Ethan Borrell
• Gavin Allan
• Riley Rumberger
• Paiten LaPoint
• TJ Bowers
• Brandon Adams
• Jude Plesnarski

Key returners

OFFENSE

• Derek Derenzo (Sr. QB, 5’10, 190) – 809 rushing yards, 170 receiving yards, 10 total TD’s
• Justin Cutler (Sr. WR/TE, 6’1, 185) – 162 receiving yards, 1 TD
• Colby Leshko (Sr. OL, 6’3, 260)
• Jayce Rizzardi (Sr. OL, 5’10, 215)

DEFENSE

• Camryn Quinones (Sr. LB, 5’10, 180)
• Derek Derenzo (Sr. LB, 5’10, 190) – 110 tackles, 17.5 TFL, 3 sacks
• Justin Cutler (Sr. DB, 6’1, 185) – 54 tackles, 3 INT’s
• Colby Leshko (Sr. DL, 6’3, 260) – 18 tackles
• Jayce Rizzardi (Sr. DL, 5’10, 215)
• John Lutsky (So. LB, 5’9, 180) – 53 tackles, 3 TFL, 1 INT TD

SPECIAL TEAMS

• Jordan Bowers (Sr. K/P, 6’4, 185)

Key newcomers

• Camden Rogers (Sr. WR/DB, 5’9, 135)
• Chase Beach (Sr. OL/DL, 5’10, 200)
• Oscar LaRosa (Jr. RB/LB, 5’8, 155)
• Rashaw Leary (Jr. OL/DL, 6’0, 200)
• Thomas Zimmerman (Jr. OL/DL, 6’3, 230)
• Parker Zaharis (So. WR/DB, 5’10, 140)
• Jack Morgan (So. WR/DB, 6’0, 150)
• Omir Ballard (So. RB/LB, 5’9, 190)
• Brody Rogers (So. OL/DL, 5’9, 205)
• Kushon Simms (Fr. QB/WR/DB, 5’7, 135)
• Jose Farrell (Fr. RB/LB, 5’11, 165)
• Colt Laudeman (Fr. WR/DB, 5’11, 145)
• Harmon Leshko (Fr. OL/DL, 6’5, 270)
• Finn Smulley (Fr. OL/DL, 5’6, 175)
• Kevin Weisbeck (Fr. OL/DL, 5’8, 220)

Offensive lookout

Coach Frantz – “Offensively, Derenzo will be moving to quarterback and Lutsky will be taking over as the featured running back. Justin Cutler, Cam Rogers, and Jordan Bowers give us big time threats on the outside. Derenzo is another running back that can throw the ball very well; we will look to put pressure on the defenses running first, then airing it out downfield. We have a lot of young kids battling for playing time on the offensive line, which is what we need out of this offseason.”

Defensive lookout

Coach Frantz – “The return of two experienced linebackers at ILB (Derenzo, Lutsky) gives the defense a strong foundation. Focus of our defense is built on being aggressive, disciplined, and being fundamentally sound tackling. Tackling, doing your own job have been our main focuses all offseason. The biggest priority will be developing younger players and new starters along the line and secondary. The line must be physical, control their gaps, keep blockers off the LB’s. We need to control the LOS (Line of Scrimmage) and get in the backfield. We have some athletes stepping into roles that we expect big things from. The leadership, experience, and ability to communicate all calls from our experienced LB’s will be huge for helping our young players.”

Special Teams outlook

Coach Frantz – “Jordan Bowers returns as one of the best kickers and punters in the state. We look to do a lot of different things when he is on the field, and will be looking at special teams to swing the momentum in games.”

Rob’s thoughts on the Battlin’ Miners

The one question everyone has for Minersville is what will the offense look like in 2026? They do not have Dante Carr and his dual-threat ability behind center anymore, and Paiten LaPoint beating defenders and using his speed to make plays. Other than Derek Derenzo, Justin Cutler, Colby Leshko, Jayce Rizzardi, there are a lot of question marks on this side of the ball.

Before and after Scrimmage Saturday last year at Northern Lebanon, I was concerned about the OL unit coming into the season, but they took my doubts away early in the season. This season, I have that same question with five key players from last year (Dominico Yourey, Gavin Spirko, Riley Rumberger, Ethan Borrell, and Jude Plesnarski) now out of the picture. Leshko and Rizzardi return, which is good. However, the options below them are concerning due to the lack of experience.

Just like Coach Frantz said, there will be a lot of underclassmen competing for starting spots, but the biggest concern (before I ask what the offense will look like) is can these younger guys catch up to the speed of the game, and the speed and strength of their opponents? Some of them have little to no football experience, or are coming right out of the Middle School program.

I am also not sure what the secondary will look like besides Cutler. Other than him, the rest of it will be younger and players with little to no varsity experience. Speaking of defense, I will now head to the defensive front where just like the offensive line, besides Leshko and Rizzardi, I do not know about this unit. Just like a solid amount of positions on the field, younger players will have to step up and play right away. Will the younger guys on the defensive line be able to apply pressure to top Division Two offenses like Schuylkill Haven, Williams Valley, Tri-Valley, and Marian Catholic?

With the new schedule format following the end of the Schuylkill-Colonial cooperative, the non-league schedule is now three games instead of the usual one game. Instead of only facing Halifax, they still face them in week one, but they follow with a road trip to Jim Thorpe on week two, and welcome Northern Lebanon on week three, which is one of the more competitive non-league slates in Frantz’s tenure.

Being able to host both Williams Valley and Schuylkill Haven home this season helps the Miners as the Vikings often win between the pines, and they (Minersville) avoid playing on turf against the Hurricanes and instead get to play on a natural surface.