CONTACT: Jeff Foley (518) 629-8085 or (518) 373-1262
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Tuesday, November 20, 2001
http://www.hvcc.edu
Thirteen Hudson Valley Football Players
Earn Postseason Conference Honors
On the strength of leading Hudson Valley Community College's 2001 football team to a 6-2 record, second-year flanker Shawn Miller (Troy H.S.) was recently named Northeast Football Conference (NFC) Offensive Player of the Year. Additionally, 12 of Miller's Hudson Valley teammates earned All-NFC status.
A 2001 preseason First Team All-American, Miller had 41 receptions for 611 yards and nine touchdowns this season. He was the second-leading receiver in the nation among Division III junior college players. He also tallied 947 all-purpose yards.
Miller, who holds Hudson Valley's record for receptions in a game (11) and receiving yards in a game (189), finished his two-year Hudson Valley career with the second-most catches (74) and receiving touchdowns (16) in school history. Jay Kearney had 80 receptions in 1990 and 1991. During that same timeframe, Kearney caught 17 touchdown passes.
The following Hudson Valley players were named to the All-NFC First Team: split end Derrick Dyer (John Marshall H.S.), who had 26 receptions for 428 yards and six touchdowns; offensive tackle Chris Shanks (Millbrook H.S.); and outside linebacker Gary Smith (Concord H.S., DE), who recorded 74 tackles in 2001.
The following Vikings earned All-NFC Second Team status: guard Pete Argyris (Roosevelt H.S.); placekicker John Butera (Greece Olympia H.S.), who set a school record by hitting 29 extra points; free safety Willie Edison (Cypress Lake H.S., FL), who had two interceptions and 29 tackles; defensive tackle Paul Haynes (Hudson H.S.), who contributed five sacks and 15 tackles for a loss; tight end Anthony Martinez (Colonie H.S.), who had seven receptions for 125 yards and a touchdown; outside linebacker Mike Miller (Firestone H.S., OH), who recorded a team-high 75 tackles; and offensive tackle Reno Sangro (Hendrick Hudson H.S.).
All-NFC Third Team status was awarded to: guard Craig Luebeck (Waldwick H.S.); and center John Gordon (Akron Central H.S.).
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.
