From modbee.com

By Ron Agostini

The Modesto Junior College Pirates, mud caked to their cleats and jerseys stained and wet, exchanged consolation hugs and heard from their coach.

"You made Modesto special," Rusty Stivers told his team. "This team put Modesto on the map."

It did, but the Pirates' final destination turned out to be American River, where they were beaten 27-21 Saturday night in the North State Bowl. Modesto (8-3) bowed out in the Northern California semifinals, making it the most accomplished MJC football team in recent school history.

American River (9-2), which travels to Butte next Saturday for the NorCal title game, handed Modesto two of its three losses. The rematch, though closer than the 47-33 ARC win in September, contained one painful parallel for the men in blue – a special teams breakdown.

Modesto, which built its Valley Conference championship in part by dominating all events post-halftime, gave up a 91-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Damen Wheeler to open the second half. His clean trip through the MJC coverage gave the Beavers, who trailed 14-0 early in the game, their first lead.

More important, it presented the home team with easy points on a field softened by steady rain until the fourth quarter. Modesto answered with a game-tying 26-yard pass from Wyatt Clapper to Lovell Collins, but ARC responded with a drive capped by Griffin Dahn's 2-yard run for the decisive touchdown.

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