CONTACT: R. Sean Coffey, (518) 629-7898, r.coffey@hvcc.edu
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009
It was a great night for football Friday evening, as the Hudson Valley Community College Vikings took on Army Prep in a non-conference matchup on the historic West Point campus under the lights of Shea Stadium. Hudson Valley came out firing, as Andreas Hudson (Frankford, Philadelphia) led the Vikings on a 60 yard drive, which concluded with a beautiful touchdown pass to Akeem Jordan (Carroll, Washington D.C.). Following the opening drive, the Hudson Valley defense forced a "three-and-out," getting the ball back in the offense's hands for yet another touchdown drive as Travis Patterson (Long Branch, Long Branch, NJ) punched in a three-yard touchdown run.
Hudson Valley looked as though it was in complete control of the contest. What ensued was a wild scoring thriller, as Army Prep's option offense got into a rhythm. Prep came back with 12 unanswered points before Hudson Valley's Anane Owusu (Boys and Girls, Brooklyn) had a 10 yard touchdown scoring run to make the score 21-12. But once again, the Hudson Valley defense did not answer the call as Army Prep scored another 14 unanswered points before half-time, taking the lead, 26-21.
To start the second half, the Vikings' defense looked inspired, making stops for negative yards, and putting constant pressure on Army Prep's quarterback. But as soon as it looked as though Hudson Valley had gotten back to the impressive defensive play it showed a week ago, Army Prep broke a 53-yard touchdown run, making the score 33-21.
To close out the rest of the game, the two teams traded touchdowns as if there was no defense on the field. Hudson Valley scores included a rushing touchdown by Darryl Thompson (John Marshall, Rochester) and another by Hudson, and a second touchdown catch by Jordan from Hudson to make the final, 46-43.
Hudson Valley had an impressive 501 yards of total offense on the day. A very balanced attack, they passed for 258 yards and rushed for another 243 yards; 143 of those yards came from running back Ismail Jordan (Watertown, Watertown), but the Viking's defense gave up 458 yards of total offense. The inability to stop the Army option and play-action paired with backbreaking turnovers made it an uphill battle from half-time on for Hudson Valley.
Hudson Valley is looking forward to getting back on the grid iron for this weekend's conference game at home against Lackawanna. Kick-off is at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 19.
