American River College football’s past 20 games have been filled with intense moments, dominance on both sides of the ball, and mind-blowing plays.

There was plenty of action to be seen Sept.15 as ARC captured its 21st consecutive victory on the road by beating Chabot Community College 45-24, despite more than a dozen ARC penalties for 130 yards.

“It’s tremendous,” said Head Coach Jerry Haflich. “You know, it’s 21 in a row for us. It’s really exciting.”

With both their passing and running game, the Beavers offense stole the show, scoring 45 points against the Gladiators.

In the first quarter the Beavers attempted the wildcat formation with running back Devontae Booker. Quarterback Jonathan Kodama tossed the ball to Booker who threw a 76-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver J’Juan Muldrow. However, the touchdown was overturned by a 10-yard offensive hold penalty.

The Beavers first points of the game came on a punt return by Tyler Trosin who took the ball 83 yards with 6:34 left in the first quarter.

The following possession saw back-to-back unnecessary roughness calls on the Beavers defense, one which wiped out an interception. The drive led to Chabot’s first touchdown. The game was then tied 7-7.

The American River College fans erupted in boos and started heckling the referees. One ARC fan shouted: “Put ’em in a dress if they can’t take that hit.”

The second quarter saw ARC dominating on both sides of the ball and scored three touchdowns in less than five minutes.  On offense, Booker had a 15-yard rushing touchdown followed by a 14-yard receiving touchdown. Slot receiver Daniel Thomas had a 32-yard receiving touchdown on the next play.The Beavers led 28-7.

The first half was winding down when defensive back Scott Patalano had an interception. However, a penalty marker was thrown for excessive celebration.

The fans weren’t happy with that call either. Someone shouted “take their flags away.” The crowd’s boos got louder and the players on the sideline raised their arms to encourage the fans to show the officials their dissatisfaction.

Nevertheless, the defense held Chabot scoreless the rest of the half.

“I’m very happy with the defensive effort especially in the first half they just played stellar,” Haflich said.

To start the second half, Chabot took the ball 78 yards for a touchdown. On the ensuing possession, ARC fumbled the kickoff at their 11-yard line. The defense held Chabot to a field goal. The score was 31-17.

In the third quarter Chabot’s offense was forced into third and long. They didn’t convert, however a face-mask penalty on the play kept their drive alive. Chabot went on to score a touchdown. The score was 31-24 going into the fourth quarter.

With eight minutes left in the game Booker had a 17-yard touchdown run.  With a little more than two minutes left on the clock slot receiver Daniel Thomas scored the Beavers final touchdown. The Beavers beat the Gladiators 45-24.

The American River College fans traveled well;  the Beavers stands had roughly 200 people matching Chabot’s turn out.

The crowd cheering seemed to help the team secure the victory.

“To win any week is great,” Haflich said. “But to start the season 3-0 is exciting.”