CONTACT: Jeff Foley (518) 629-8085 or (518) 373-1262
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Friday, August 18, 2000
http://www.hvcc.edu
The football team at Hudson Valley Community College will hold a Media Day on Friday, August 25. Players and coaches will be available for interviews and photographs from 2 to 3 p.m. at Veteran's Memorial Field in Troy. Veteran's Memorial Field is located on the Hudson Valley campus, directly behind the McDonough Sports Complex.
Head coach Bob Jojo is entering his third season at Hudson Valley. The team has had two solid campaigns during his tenure - going 5-3 in 1998 and 4-4 in 1999. Jojo earned Northeast Football Conference Co-Coach of the Year honors in 1998. Hudson Valley closed out 1999 by winning three of their final four games.
"We came on strong at the end," Jojo said. "Hopefully we'll be pick up where we left off."
While game-breaking running back Dan Vergine (the Ballston Spa native broke a 25-year-old Hudson Valley record by rushing for 1,250 yards in 1999) has graduated and transferred to I-AA Western Carolina University, Jojo expects a pair of second-year players - former Ravena star Gary Jones and Delino White of Pennsylvania - to fill his shoes. White, a 210-pound fullback, gained 540 yards in 1999 (327 rushing, 213 receiving). And Jones is no stranger to the end zone; he scored 35 touchdowns for Ravena in 1997, seventh best on the all-time New York State high school list.
Defensively, three key returners are expected to lead the way. Linebacker Tyler Frank (Lake George) was second on the team with 63 tackles last year. Defensive end Spencer Young of New Jersey picked up a team-high six sacks. And Derrick Black of North Carolina led the Vikings with four interceptions, one of which he returned 86 yards for a touchdown.
Hudson Valley's 2000 season gets underway on September 2 with a 1 p.m. home game against Lackawanna Junior College. Lackawanna was 6-5 last season.
Hudson Valley Community College'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. In 1996, the Vikings posted an 8-0 record, part of dominant stretch that included 15 straight victories.