By Mack Irvin III

From ARCurrent.com

"If they hadn't stopped me, I would have ran right through the end zone," said wide receiver Daliceo Calloway.

A strong showing in the fourth quarter capped off by a 74 yard touchdown reception by Calloway in the last minute allowed American River College's football team to win their season opener against Diablo Valley on Friday, 23-20.

The Beavers' game plan changed after starting quarterback Chris Guillen was injured during the third play of the game and freshman Griffin Dahn got his first regular season action earlier than expected.

Coach Jon Osterhout said that Dahn was going to get some game time, but Guillen's injury forced their hand earlier than expected.

"We told him he was going to get in at the 4th series of the game, but he got pushed into action a little earlier because of the shot that Chris took," Osterhout said. "Luckily for the team, he was prepared and came out and handled the job well."

Dahn, who went 11-35 for 232 yards, three touchdowns and one interception in his debut, said that he was ready for the call.

"I was confident," Dahn said. "I watch film and I take my reps in practice, so I was prepared."

"I went out and made plays. I made a lot of mistakes too, but I was ready to go."

Two plays following the substitution, Dahn threw a 46 yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Lee Reed to put ARC on top 7-0, however Reed would exit the game immediately afterwards after suffering a knee injury.

Both teams offense failed to move the ball considerably in the next few drives with it looking like the game would become a war of defenses.

In the middle of the first quarter, a bad snap from ARC, pinned deep in their own territory, resulted in Dahn trying to scramble, then trying to shovel the ball forward resulting in an interception by DVC defensive back Marcus de la Pena, who returned it for a touchdown to tie the game at 7-7.

ARC's offense was kept to minimal gains by the Vikings, who recorded three sacks in 10 minutes, while the Vikings were able to kick two field goals to put them up at halftime, 13-6.

Sophomore running back Ce'von Mitchell-Ford had 15 rushes for 41 yards and said that while the first half was difficult for them, they knew the second half was their chance to turn the game around.

Read the full article from ARCurrent.com