Football to be Featured as NJCAA/ESPN+ Game of the Week

CONTACT: Adam Sopris, a.sopris@hvcc.edu, 518-629-7898 or 518-416-2137
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Monday, August 28, 2023

Troy, NY – The Hudson Valley Community College football game program will host nationally-ranked Nassau Community College in Troy, NY on Saturday, September 16 at 1 p.m. in front of a nationally-televised audience on ESPN+.

The annual showdown between the two programs was selected by the National Junior College Association (NJCAA) as its NJCAA Game of the Week, and marks the first time in the Vikings football program has been featured on the ESPN family of networks.

The Vikings football program, under fifth year head coach, Don Jones, has won three consecutive NJCAA Region 3 championships since 2019 (No season in 2020) and has posted a 15-12 regular season record.

In August of 2022, ESPN and the NJCAA announced a multi-year media rights agreement to begin with the 2022-2023 academic year that includes nationally televised championship games for NJCAA Division I Football, Division I Men's Basketball, and Division I Women's Basketball that will air on an ESPN linear network, as well as regular season content on ESPN+.

The football game against Nassau is one of the 13 NJCAA football games being streamed on ESPN+ this season. There are also 25 men's basketball games, 25 women's basketball games, 20 baseball games, and 20 softball games set to be broadcast live on ESPN+ in each year of the agreement. In addition to these, the industry-leading sports streaming service will air the NJCAA Division I Baseball and NJCAA DI Softball Championship final games.

Hudson Valley kicked-off the 2023 regular season over the weekend with an impressive 21-3 home win over the Castleton State University junior varsity program. Shamilyn Joppy led the strong defensive effort with two interceptions along with a team-leading five tackles. Cameron Harbaugh guided the offense as he went 19-of-21 for 228 yards and three passing touchdowns to three different receivers.

Live stats will be available for the NJCAA Game of the Week, click here for live stats.

For more information on the NJCAA and ESPN+ partnership, click here. For more information on how to access ESPN+, click here.