American River defeated Fresno City College by a score of 31-21 on Saturday night. The Beavers mounted a comeback in the second half of the game and played the role of spoiler on the Rams’ homecoming night.
The Fresno City College Rams came into the game ranked No.3 in the community college coaches’ poll which is used in post season and bowl game rankings. The Rams hold a record of 5-1 and were on a three game winning streak after their only previous loss came at the hands of No.1 ranked San Francisco College in week four.
The Beavers came into the game with a 4-2 record and an 0-1 record in conference play while the Rams had won their first conference game against Sierra.
On Saturday night, the Rams offense came out fast, scoring on their first drive. A 34-yard pass from Rams Quarterback Trey Mitchell to receiver Tim Brown got the Rams on the board but following that the defenses of both teams took over and kept the score at 7-3 until the middle of the second quarter.
The Fresno City defense limited American River quarterback Jonathan Kodama and the Beaver offense for the first half but were unable to suppress him in the second half when he got into a rhythm and threw for three of his four touchdowns. Kodama threw for 397 yards but was also picked off by FCC’s defensive back Donnell Vercher on a critical fourth down conversion.
Turnovers played a major part in the game for both teams with seven turnovers occurring throughout the game. These included muffed kicks, lost fumbles and interceptions.
A pass by freshman quarterback Mitchell was intercepted in the end zone after it was tipped by an FCC receiver and ended up in the hands of Beavers defensive back Scott Patalano. Mitchell also threw an interception from the Rams 24 to American River player Rozale Byrd in the fourth quarter that would help the Beavers run out the clock and win the game. With the interception the Fresno City stands started to empty and people started to make their way towards the exit.
FCC coach Tony Caviglia said “It was just a good hard fought football game, it could have gone either way and I like the way our guys competed, we played hard. I think we needed to make a few plays in the second half and we didn’t make them and they did.”
Following the game American River Coach Jerry Haflich said “It’s a tremendous win; I respect the heck out of Tony Caviglia.” He added “Our kids came back and I’m really proud of them.”
Apart from homecoming, the game was also a celebration of Fresno City College’s win of the 2012 Learfield Sports Directors Cup. This marked the first time that the trophy was awarded in the new community college division. Even though the results were announced at the beginning of the fall 2012 semester the trophy was awarded at halftime. Retired FCC employee Woody Wilk announced all of the athletic teams that were being honored with the cup as they made their way across the field.
FCC began the festivities with a wine reception on Friday evening in the courtyard of the Old Administration Building where the trophy was unveiled for coaches and staff members who have contributed to the Athletic Program in some way.
Fresno City football continues the season against Stockton’s San Joaquin Delta on Oct. 27. All of the remaining games on the schedule are conference games that will play a major part in determining the Rams placement in the post season.
Caviglia remains optimistic about his teams’ chances to win the conference even with the loss on the record.
“This conference is not over,” he says. There’s a good chance that a team with one loss will win the conference. We’re still in it. It’s a tough conference.”
