Football defeats No. 15 American River, 44-30
September 6, 2025

Football defeats No. 15 American River, 44-30

Video Box Score

Pleasant Hill, Calif. (Sept. 6, 2025) – Diablo Valley College football made a statement in its home opener, defeating No. 15 American River 44–30 to move to 2–0 on the season. The Vikings combined explosive offense with key defensive stops to take down the nationally ranked Beavers.

DVC struck immediately when quarterback Kalani McCleod connected with Khai Taylor for a 75-yard touchdown on the game's opening drive. After a short American River field goal, Adrian Guzman added a 25-yard kick to make it 10–3. McCleod then found Jurrion Dickey for a 39-yard score and hit Taylor again from 24 yards just before halftime, sending the Vikings into the break up 24–3.

American River scored twice early in the third quarter to cut the lead to seven, but McCleod responded with touchdown passes to Ferrari Miller (16 yards) and Taylor (9 yards) to restore control. In the fourth, the Vikings marched 99 yards in six plays, capped by a McCleod 2-yard keeper for the final DVC touchdown.

McCleod finished 16-of-24 for 353 yards and five touchdown passes, plus one rushing score. Taylor led all receivers with five catches for 145 yards and three touchdowns. Miller added balance on the ground, rushing for 125 yards on 15 carries and catching a touchdown pass. Overall, the Vikings produced 527 yards of total offense at 10.5 yards per play.

The Viking defense held ARC to just three first-half points. Santino Acevedo paced the unit with 10 tackles, while Marley Alapati and Aaron Woodard each added tackles for loss. Kaleo Hall intercepted a pass and returned it 25 yards to stall an ARC drive.

The Vikings will look to carry their momentum into next week as they continue non-conference play at Redwoods. Kickoff is set for 3:00pm on Saturday, Sept. 13th.