The Sacramento-based Beavers are coming off a 4-6 mark recorded in 2007.

Coach Jerry Haflich directed American River to a 40-26 victory past Solano College last weekend. The Beavers trailed 20-13 at the half.

American River concentrated on a ground game to stop Solano.

Freshman Ricky Abernathy rushed for 136 yards and two touchdowns in 21 carries. The Beavers finished with 276 net yards on the ground on 43 tries.

Sophomore running back Stefon Cesar helped the Beavers with 269 all-purpose yards. The versatile athlete carried eight times, caught eight passes and returned five kick-offs.

"Their running backs are really good," said Gavilan coach John Lango of the Beavers' ground game. "Our defensive line has to get off the ball and get moving" to be able to control the visitors' rushing ability.

Keying American River's defense last weekend were safety Willie Ross (5 tackles and an interception) and defensive end David Little (5 tackles, 1 sack).

Gavilan has not played American River since 2000, Lango's first year directing the Rams. American River, a member of the Mid-Empire Conference, escaped with a 28-20 victory.

"We need to play a tough one to get ready for Coast Conference," Lango said of the school's decision to schedule College of Marin and American River this season.

"We've had some good practices this week. We know we'll need to execute better on offense along with eliminating penalties. This opponent is 10 times better than last week."

While the Beavers accentuated the ground game last weekend, Gavilan used Nick Kalantari's passing prowess to beat Marin 26-23.

Gavilan will continue pre-conference play at Cabrillo on Sept. 20 before drawing a bye on Oct. 27.