CONTACT: Jeff Foley (518) 629-8085 or (518) 373-1262
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Saturday, October 6, 2001
http://www.hvcc.edu
Buffalo, N.Y., October 6, 2001 - Hudson Valley Community College's football team took on a 23-mile-per-hour wind and Erie Community College at Jim Ball Stadium today, and lost for the first time this season. The Vikings turned the ball over six times in a 40-7 setback.
Hudson Valley is now 4-1 overall and 3-0 in Northeast Football Conference action. Erie, a first-year football program and a probationary member of the NFC (the squad plays mostly NFC teams, but the results do not count in league standings), improved to 4-1 overall.
With the wind chill hovered near freezing at Jim Ball Stadium, the Vikings struck first. After a 43-yard run by fullback Tennell Savage (Notre Dame H.S.) early in the first quarter, Dylan Cooper (Saratoga H.S.) hit Shawn Miller (Troy H.S.) with an 18-yard scoring strike. John Butera (Greece Olympia H.S.) nailed the extra point to give Hudson Valley a 7-0 lead.
Erie, however, took advantage of Hudson Valley's turnovers and steadily pulled away.
Miller finished with nine receptions for 89 yards. The All-American wide receiver also had 137 kickoff-return yards, giving him 226 all-purpose yards on the day. Savage contributed 53 yards rushing on four carries and Derrick Dyer (John Marshall H.S.) had four catches for 37 yards. The Vikings held Erie to 144 yards of total offense.
Hudson Valley hosts Alfred State College (1-5 overall, 0-3 NFC) at 1 p.m. on Saturday, October 13. Due to construction of a minor-league baseball stadium at Hudson Valley, the game will be played at La Salle Institute.
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.