The Gavilan Rams rallied to a 14-13 fourth-quarter lead before faltering in the final eight minutes to drop a 21-14 nonconference decision to the visiting American River Beavers.
The loss in Garcia-Elder Sports Complex left the Rams at 1-1 going into Saturday night's date with the Cabrillo Seahawks in Aptos.
The Beavers (2-0) snapped a 7-7 intermission tie when Luke Cook found Stefon Ceasar behind the Rams defense for a 53-yard touchdown pass with 10:53 left in the game. The point-after kick was blocked, leaving the Beavers up 13-7 and kicking off from their own 15 because of a dead-ball penalty.
Gavilan responded with a 52-yard kick-off return by freshman speedster Arthur Pittman, a horse-collar tackled added five yards for the Rams, setting up first-and-goal at the American River 5. Sophomore quarterback Nick Kalantari bulled over on a 1-yard sneak on second down for the 13-13 tie with 9:58 to play. Michael Blewett's point-after boot made it a 14-13 Rams lead.
American River came right back to regain the lead with 7:25 left. Ceasar zipped to a 37-yard kick-off to the Rams 43. Gavilan was whistled for a personal foul on the return, setting the Beavers up at the Rams' 28.
Cook spotted wideout David Weld open for a 19-yard pass play to the Rams 4. On third-and-goal at the one, the Beavers nixed the run and let Cook fire a quick strike to Jermaine Cox for the winning pass in the right front corner of the end zone. Cook's two-point conversion pass to Weld finished the scoring with the Beavers in control at 21-14.
"Gavilan was impressive," American River coach Jim Haflich said.
"Their running backs rushed hard, and I still don't think we've caught No. 11 (Connor Farotte) yet. Offensively, we're young, but we made some adjustments in the second half and were able to score enough points for the win."
"Defensively, we played really well," Gavilan coach John Lango said. "We came up with two interceptions. Taylor Micali (linebacker) had a very solid game. American River hurt us with that one-play series, scoring on that seam route to take the lead. We were able to come right back to score. Both quarterbacks did some good things. Kalantari runs the offense well and Farotte gives us a running threat."
American River needed six offensive series to build a 7-0 lead. The Beavers blocked a punt at the Rams' 48 and needed seven plays to cover the 48 yards to paydirt.
Bob Burch Bob Burch is a sports writer for the Morgan Hill Times.
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