CONTACT: Jeff Foley (518) 629-8085 or (518) 373-1262
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Thursday, October 18, 2001
http://www.hvcc.edu
Hudson Valley Community College's football team will host non-conference foe Naval Academy Prep at 1 p.m. on Saturday, October 20. Due to construction of a minor-league baseball stadium at Hudson Valley, the game will be played at Troy's La Salle Institute.
The Vikings (5-1 overall, 4-0 Northeast Football Conference) defeated Alfred State College, 55-21, on October 13. For their efforts against Alfred, Hudson Valley's Mike Miller (Firestone H.S., Ohio) earned NFC Defensive Player of the Week status and teammate John Butera (Greece Olympia H.S.) earned NFC Special Teams Player of the Week status.
Miller, a first-year linebacker, recorded 13 tackles, all in the first half, and contributed an interception and broke up two passes. Butera, a freshman placekicker, booted seven extra points, tying Hudson Valley's single-game record (Andy DiSanti hit seven PATs against Dean Junior College in 1970). Butera also recorded two touchbacks on kickoffs.
On offense this year, the Vikings are led by All-American wide receiver Shawn Miller (Troy H.S.), who holds Hudson Valley's record for receiving yards in a game (189) and receptions in a game (11). He has 32 receptions for 504 yards and six touchdowns this season, and is the fifth leading receiver in the nation among NJCAA Division III players. Dylan Cooper (Saratoga H.S.) and Justin Kastner (Hudson H.S.) have combined to pass for 178.2 yards per game and a total of 13 touchdowns. Cooper has tossed eight touchdown passes and has completed 57.4 % of his pass attempts.
Defensively, Mike Miller and Gary Smith (Concord H.S., Delaware) lead the way. Miller has 61 tackles and Smith has 55 tackles. Paul Haynes (Hudson H.S.) and Shadee Davis (New Brunswick H.S.) have four sacks each. Willie Edison (Cypress Lake H.S., Florida) has two interceptions.
Hudson Valley is tops in the NFC in team offense and defense. The Vikings are averaging 314.3 yards of total offense per game while allowing just 166.3 yards per contest.
Hudson Valley and Navy Prep have played twice, in 1999 and 2000, with Navy Prep winning both games. In last year's contest, which Navy Prep won, 41-28, Shawn Miller had 11 catches, establishing a new Hudson Valley record for receptions in a game.
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.