CONTACT: Steve Mullen (518) 629-8063
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Saturday, October 18, 2003
The records continue to fall. Already Hudson Valley Community College's all-time leading rusher, sophomore Emmanuel Marc (Spring Valley/Spring Valley High School) carried the ball 35 times for a school-record 335 yards to lead Hudson Valley to a 39-28 win over Alfred State College earlier today in Troy.
Hudson Valley improves its record to 6-1 on the year and 4-1 in the Northeast Football Conference (NFC). The win clinches at least a share of the conference title for Hudson Valley, its second in the last three years. Alfred State's record falls to 5-3 overall and 1-3 in the NFC.
Marc set three school records on the day. His 335 rushing yards surpassed Dwight Slater, who rushed for 294 yards against Siena College in 1975. Marc has 1,442 rushing yards this year, surpassing the former season mark of 1,250 yards set by Dan Vergine in 1999. With his four touchdowns today, Marc currently has 26 in his career and passes Dennis Greene, who had 24 touchdowns from 1971 to 1972.
Hudson Valley amassed a season-high 569 yards of total offense. In addition to the running attack, sophomore quarterback Ryan Gribulis (Kerhonkson/Rondout Valley) completed 16 of 24 passes for 225 yards. Sophomore tight end J.J. Nesheiwat (Poughkeepsie/Arlington High School) caught four of his passes for 73 yards.
Freshman running back Cornell Johnson (Las Vegas, NV) had 167 yards rushing and 75 yards receiving to propel Alfred State's offense. He also scored three touchdowns.
Marc scored from 30 yards away to give Hudson Valley a 6-0 lead midway through the first quarter. The Vikings stretched their lead to 9-0 on a 27-yard field goal from freshman Jared King (Tivoli/Red Hook High School).
However, Alfred State would go into the halftime with a 15-12 lead thanks to Johnson, who scored on a 73-yard run and took a screen pass 71 yards for a touchdown.
Marc took control of the game in the third quarter, rushing for touchdown runs of 15 and three yards to give Hudson Valley a 25-15 lead. He then scored from 55 yards away, 21 second into the fourth quarter, to put Hudson Valley up 32-15.
Freshman Jonal Saint-Dic (Elizabeth, NJ/Elizabeth High School) had three sacks to lead the Hudson Valley defense. Sophomores Ernest Jones (Bronx/Lehman High School) and John Howell IV (Columbia, SC/Lower Richland High School) contributed 11 and 10 tackles, respectively.
Alfred State sophomore Drew DeRoo (Greece) had 13 tackles to lead all players. Sophomores Agustus McCoy (Pahokee, FL) and Jermaine LeGendre (Copiague) added 12 tackles apiece for the Pioneers.
Hudson Valley will host Nassau Community College at 2 p.m. on Saturday, October 25. Nassau is ranked 14th in the latest National Junior College Athletic Association poll.
