CONTACT: Jeff Foley (518) 629-8085 or (518) 373-1262
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Thursday, October 18, 2001
http://www.hvcc.edu
Hudson Valley Community College's Mike Miller (Firestone H.S., Ohio) was named Northeast Football Conference (NFC) Defensive Player of the Week, and teammate John Butera (Greece Olympia H.S.) earned NFC Special Teams Player of the Week status. The duo was honored for their efforts in Hudson Valley's October 13 victory against Alfred State College.
Miller led the Vikings to a 55-21 victory against Alfred by recording 13 tackles, all of which came in the first half. The first-year linebacker also contributed an interception, which he returned 24 yards, and broke up two passes.
Butera, meanwhile, nailed all seven extra points he attempted against Alfred, tying Hudson Valley's record for extra points in a game (Andy DiSanti also had seven extra points in a game against Dean Junior College in 1970). Additionally, Butera, who needs just seven more extra points to break Hudson Valley's single-season record, recorded two touchbacks on kickoffs.
Hudson Valley's football program was established in 1969. At the time, Hudson Valley was one of only two junior colleges in New York to field a varsity football team. Since then, nearly 300 Hudson Valley football players have earned scholarships to four-year schools and 15 have gone on to play professionally. The Vikings competed in the Coca Cola Bowl in Iowa in 1980. In 1996, Hudson Valley posted an 8-0 record, part of a dominant stretch that included 15 straight victories.