CONTACT: Steve Mullen (518) 629-8063
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Friday, September 3, 2004
The Hudson Valley Community College football team will open its 36th season at 1 p.m. on Saturday, September 4, against Navy Prep in Newport, Rhode Island.
Hudson Valley shutout the Rams, 30-0, in last year's season opening game. Navy Prep, which rolled to a 43-6 win over Salve Regina University in its 2004 season opener last Saturday, has won four out of the five all-time meetings with the Vikings in a series that began in 1999.
Hudson Valley returns four starters - offensive tackle Darnell Stapleton (Union, NJ/Union High School), offensive guard Mike Izzo (Staten Island/Susan Wagner High School), defensive end Jonal Saint-Dic (Elizabeth, NJ/Elizabeth High School) and safety Damion Malott (Akron, OH/Akron North High School) - from last year's team, which finished 8-2, won a share of the Northeast Football Conference, and played in The Graphic Edge Bowl.
Bob Jojo is entering his seventh season as Hudson Valley's head coach. His all-time record stands at 34-18. A Hudson Valley win on Saturday will tie Jojo with former Hudson Valley coach Tom DePalma for the second most coaching wins in the program's history. DePalma compiled a 35-35-3 mark from 1978 to 1985.
Navy Prep, which finished 7-3 last season, is a 10-month prep school for the United States Naval Academy and the United States Coast Guard Academy and therefore has a new roster each year.
Hudson Valley's home opener is scheduled for noon on Sunday, November 12, against RPI JV on Veterans Memorial Field.