Football Shuts Out Hartwick JV for Second Win

“It’s good to finally see a complete team effort today,” said Head Coach Mike Muehling, after Hudson Valley’s 20-0 win over Hartwick JV on Nov. 4 in front of a packed Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Although a team effort, the Vikings’ defense and special teams were the keys to the victory. On the defensive side of the ball, the Vikings’ defensive line was able to penetrate the offensive line of Hartwick JV and was able to wreak havoc all game long.

“We saw some areas where we thought we would actually get good pressure,” said Muehling. “We were pretty effective [in] doing that.”

The result of this pressure led to nine sacks by Hudson Valley defenders. Freshman Landon Moore led the way with three sacks. Justin Winfree also added two and a half sacks. With all this pressure on the quarterbacks of Hartwick, the Vikings’ defense was able to cause three turnovers.

“Anytime you get pressure on the quarterback, that’s going to cause the tipped passes and interceptions,” Muehling said.

Two of these turnovers were fumbles and both recovered by senior defensive end Sam Chase. The other was an interception that was caused in the middle of the second quarter.

Special Teams was also a factor in the game as well. After the Hawks went three and out their first possession, senior punt returner and wide receiver Sharmarte Banks took the punt back 55 yards for the game’s first score.

In the second quarter, senior Joseph Dana was able to maneuver through Hartwick’s punt team and was able to block the punt without being touched.

“It was a great performance by our special teams today” Muehling said, “The nature of Hartwick being a JV team and they don’t get much time to practice together on special teams and have to keep it base.”

On the offensive side of the ball, Hudson Valley was shaky at times but not overall. “We didn’t play that bad offensively,” said Muehling.

One of the key players on the offensive side of the ball was senior tight end Josh Gross. Gross compiled a day where he had five receptions for 127 yards and one touchdown. One of the these catches was a one handed catch on the last play of the first half that got spectators out of their seats and gave the Vikings momentum going into halftime.

In the run game, Nate Robinson led the way with 81 rushing yards including a 58 yard touchdown in the fourth quarter that clinched the win for the Vikings.

Penalties and turnover, although not costly, plagued Hudson Valley throughout the game. “Penalties are self-inflicted wounds,” Muehling said. “We gotta get that cut out.”

The Vikings were flagged 14 times in the game, including a holding penalty that nullified a touchdown. Hudson Valley also committed two turnovers and lost both of them.

“These are things that can get corrected pretty quickly,” Muehling said.

With this win, the Vikings improve to 2-8 for the year.