Although the Jamestown Chiefs had already played four games, including its first victory, the culmination of nearly a year of work to put the semi-professional football team together officially came last Sunday.

Finally, after 10 months of discussion, nearly as much time spent on practice and four games on the road to begin the season, Jamestown came home. For the first time in team history, the Chiefs hosted a game at Strider Field, marking the first appearance of the Northeastern Football Alliance semi-pro league in the county. After scaring perennial power Monroe County before falling by a 20-6 score, most associated with the organization had more to take from the game than the Chiefs’ now 1-4 record.

"You could feel the electricity in the air," Chiefs general manager Joe Scapelitte said. "The feeling is indescribable. It’s hard to put into words the feeling of accomplishment to see the fruits of all the work on the field."

Though on the wrong side of the scoreboard, the realization of semi-pro football in Jamestown stands above even the team’s first victory for head coach Brendan Carter.

"Even though it was a loss, just seeing everything finally culminate in us having our first home game and to get that kind of support, that’s the highlight of this year," Carter said. "Even more so than the win."

In front of a paid crowd of over 500, the Chiefs and Monroe County Sting, which has won the league championship the past two out of four seasons, remained deadlocked at a 0-0 score, and the game was still in doubt at 6-0 late into the third quarter when a string of turnovers sunk the Chiefs.

"We made the same mistakes we’ve been making every week," Chiefs head coach Brendan Carter said. "It’s timing and we’re making mistakes at critical times when we need to step up and make a big play." The costliest mistake came when an illegal formation penalty negated a Chiefs touchdown late in the second quarter. Carter said the number of mistakes are getting fewer each week, though, and is part of the bumps in the road associated with a new team.

"The mistakes are lessening each week. We’re getting better at it each and every week. It’s just a matter of getting the playing time and the experience under our belt."

Jamestown’s one score came through using a different formation, shifting wide receiver Henry Leeper under center. Leeper drove the team down the field as quarterback, scoring on a draw play. The scoring play was by design, Carter said.

"It was his birthday and we scored our first home touchdown on his birthday- that was actually a conscious decision for him to score that touchdown," he said.

Though Jamestown fell to Monroe County last Sunday, the team may have raised some eyebrows in the process. The Sting came into the week’s play at 3-1 overall on the season, with its only loss coming to Albany, the top-ranked semi-pro team in the country.

"The other coaching staffs are very impressed with us so far," Carter added. "The Monroe County staff was very impressed with number one, the support we got from the community. They were astounded by the number of people in attendance. They were impressed with everything we had to offer from Jamestown. That’s what this team is about – let’s show people from around the state what Jamestown is about. It’s about community pride and showing people what we’re made of in this area."

The Chiefs will hit the road one more time this week to take on Watertown, a team Monroe County beat earlier in the season 70-6, Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Following next week’s play, Jamestown will return to Strider Field for a three-game home stand beginning Aug. 8.

"We’ve got winnable games for the rest of the year," Carter said. "I don’t think anyone left that game Sunday thinking they had wasted their money to watch this football team. Anyone who comes out to the next home games is going to have fun. These are the guys you see around town, and they’re representing your town. Come out and support them."