CONTACT: Steve Mullen (518) 629-8063
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Thursday, November 18, 2004
Jonal Sant-Dic Named Defensive Player of the Year
Coach of the Year Award Given to Bob Jojo
After winning its second consecutive Northeast Football conference championship, Hudson Valley Community College is well represented on the All-Conference Team that was selected by the league's coaches.
Earning top honors were sophomore defensive end Jonal Saint-Dic (Elizabeth, NJ/Elizabeth High School) and head coach Bob Jojo. Saint-Dic was named the league's Defensive Player of the Year after leading the conference with 11.5 sacks, 28 tackles for loss, and six forced fumbles. He also was third on the team with 77 tackles. In his seventh season, Jojo guided Hudson Valley to consecutive postseason appearances for the first time in the program's history. This is the second consecutive year he has won the award. Jojo's all-time coaching record stands at 42-21.
Hudson Valley's defense, which only allowed 14.5 points per game, had four players voted onto the All-Conference team. Along with Saint-Dic, sophomore linebacker Shonda Faulkner (Poughkeepsie/Poughkeepsie High School) and freshman cornerback Dale Williams (Adelphi, MD/Southwestern High School) earned First Team honors. Faulkner led the team with 96 tackles and Williams led the conference with eight interceptions.
Sophomore safety Damion Malott (Akron, OH/North High School), who finished with 74 tackles and four interceptions, earned Second Team accolades.
The Hudson Valley offense rushed for 169.7 yards per game this season, which is reflected in the All-Conference selections.
Sophomore guard Terrence Bynum (Brooklyn/Lincoln High School) and sophomore tackle Darnell Stapleton (Union, NJ/Union High School) anchored the right side of the offensive line all season. Both were named to the First Team offense. Both players also excel in the classroom. Bynum, a liberal arts major, has a 3.89 grade point average, and Stapleton has a 3.03 GPA as an individual studies major.
Freshman running back Dane Samuels (Clarkstown/Clarkstown North High School) was the only running back in the league to surpass 1,000 rushing yards this season. His 1,125 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns earned him First Team All-Conference honors.
Earning Second Team All-Conference recognition on offense for the Vikings are sophomore tight end Juan Chamba (Port Chester, NY/Port Chester High School) and freshman wide receiver Ricky Johnson (Newport News, VA/Heritage High School). Chamba caught nine passes for 76 yards and a touchdown, and Johnson had 27 receptions for 372 yards and five touchdowns.
Also on the All-Conference Team for Hudson Valley is freshman kicker/punter Bobby Collett (Middletown/Goshen High School), who earned Second Team honors as a kicker and punter. Collett made seven-of-12 field goal attempts, including a school-record tying 47-yard field goal, and 30-of-36 extra point attempts for a league-best 51 points by a kicker. He also averaged 35.7 yards per punt.
Hudson Valley finished the season ranked No. 15 in the final NJCAA regular season poll.
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 18 have gone on to play professionally. The Vikings competed in the Coca-Cola Bowl in 1980, and played in The Graphic Edge Bowl in 2003. In 1996, Hudson Valley posted an 8-0 record, part of a dominant stretch that included 15 straight victories.
