Despite a four-turnovers in the first half, the American River College football team dismantled Father River College 73-21 at Beaver Stadium Saturday Oct. 29.
“I never thought we would get to 73,” Haflich said. “Without the four turnovers in the first half, it could have been a whole lot more.”
The Beavers (8-0, 2-0 MEC) turned the ball over on the first two possessions of the game and Andy McAlindon threw two interceptions before halftime. However, ARC never punted all afternoon and scored touchdowns on six straight second half possessions in front of a very vocal and lively crowd.
The players began to get a little unruly during the third quarter. After an American River squib kick on a kickoff hit a Feather River player resulting in a turnover, players at the line of scrimmage got into a scuffle that resulted in two FRC and one ARC player being ejected. ARC starting offensive lineman Felipo Sau will be ineligible for the next game following the ejection.
Devonte Booker had a career-high 141 yards rushing and three touchdowns for the Beavers. Fellow running backs Bryce Pratt (72 yards), Joesph Ferguson (71 yards) and backup quarterback Reggie Langford (72 yards) all scored a rushing touchdown as quarterback Andy McAlindon continued his record-breaking pace with two more touchdown passes to Justin Collins.
McAlindon has 28 touchdowns passes through eight games. The all-time record at ARC is 32, set by Todd Larson in 1986.
The Beavers also broke the school-record for most points in a season, including bowl games, with the 36th point scored Saturday at 360 total points—with up to three game remaining, including a bowl game.
The offense, which racked up a season-high 702 total yards, could have scored another rushing touchdown with just over four minutes remaining after Booker broke loose for a 40-yard run down the sideline before going down at the 2-yard line. Head coach Jerry Haflich chose to kneel on the ball and letting the clock run down instead of tacking on 80 points on the Golden Eagles.
“At that point we had a handle on the clock,” Haflich said. “So I said let’s just take a knee. There is no point in punching it in at that point.”
The Beavers defense continued the season long dominance, giving up just seven points before the starters were pulled with over nine minutes remaining in the third quarter. ARC, led Saturday by all-american Cortez Woods 2.5 tackles for loss and three interceptions by the defense, has given up an average 6.6 points in the first half this season.
“They have been just razor sharp” Haflich said.
