Football Claims Region 3 Title; Defeats Erie

CONTACT: Adam Sopris, a.sopris@hvcc.edu or 518-629-7898/518-416-2137
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Saturday, October 23, 2021

The Hudson Valley Community College football program won its 10^th NJCAA Region 3 Championship after the Vikings defeated rival Erie Community College 21-12 on Saturday afternoon at the Outdoor Athletic Complex on the campus of Hudson Valley in Troy, NY. 

The Vikings were led by running back Desi Floyd, who rushed for a season-best 167-yards on 29 carries for a 5.8 rushing average for an offense that put up 340 total yards of offense (261 rushing/79 passing).

The game started off shaky as Erie intercepted Jordan Moran on the opening drive of the game and returned it 45-yards for the pick-six and the early 6-0 lead for the short-handed Katz. However, Moran and the Vikings settled down for their next drive and produced a 6-play, 40-yard scoring drive, which resulted in Moran finding Daniel Manneh for a 27-yard touchdown, putting the Vikings back on top of Erie, 7-6, with the PAT conversion by kicker Frederick Callo. 

The second quarter was a defensive battle as the game entered halftime with the Vikings leading 7-6. Following the break, Hudson Valley put together an impressive 9-play, 50-yard scoring drive in their opening possession of the second half. Floyd posted 28 rushing yards, which included a seven-yard touchdown run with 10:20 remaining in the third quarter. Callo converted his second extra-point of the game and the Vikings increased its lead to 14-6. 

At the change of the quarter, the Vikings received the ball for the start of the fourth. Once again, the Vikings put together a great opening drive, which resulted in Desi Floyd's second rushing touchdown of the game. The touchdown put the cherry on top of the Vikings 8-play, 59-yard scoring drive. The scoring drive featured large runs by Jacob Stanko, who posted 28 rushing yards, including a 16-yard run to put the Vikings in scoring position. Joshua Jean-Baptist also broke off a huge 27-yard run and was tackled at the Erie two-yard line. The combined runs set up Floyd's one-yard score, increasing the Vikings lead to 21-6 with 10:19 remaining in the game. 

Erie would put another six points on the board when Fulciniti completed a 14-yard pass to Javion Monroe for the score with 1:10 remaining in the game. The Vikings rushed for a first down in their final drive, which resulted in their ability to close out the game and run the clock down to zeros for their third win of the season. 

Hudson Valley moves on and will be home again next week as they take on Ithaca JV on Friday, October 29 at 5 p.m. at the Outdoor Athletic Complex on the campus of Hudson Valley Community College.