CONTACT: Jeff Foley (518) 629-8085 or (518) 373-1262
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Friday, September 29, 2000
http://hvcc.edu
The Hudson Valley Community College football team will travel to SUNY Canton for a 1:30 p.m. contest on Saturday, September 30. This Northeast Football Conference (NFC) matchup will be played at Canton's Lou Saban Stadium. Hudson Valley is 2-2 (1-2 NFC). Canton is 2-2 (0-2 NFC).
Wide receiver Shawn Miller (Troy) and tailback Gary Jones (Ravena), this week's NFC Offensive Player of the Week, power Hudson Valley's offense. Jones has rushed for 371 yards and six touchdowns. He's averaging 5.2 yards per carry. Miller has 14 receptions for 367 yards (26.2 yards per catch) and three touchdowns.
Defensively, the Vikings are led by defensive back Derrick Black (Tarboro, NC), safety Jim Canfield (Troy) and outside linebacker Keith Hill (Schenley, PA). Black tops the NFC with three interceptions, one of which he returned 98 yards for a touchdown, the longest interception return in school history. He also returned a kickoff 85 yards for a score this season. Canfield has two interceptions, five pass breakups and 28 tackles. Hill has recorded a team-high 33 tackles.
Hudson Valley defeated Canton, 35-6, last season. Hudson Valley exploded for 428 yards of offense while limiting Canton to 159 yards.
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 dominant stretch that included 15 straight victories.