Waterman helps Bangor beat up Brunswick 42-19> Clarkson, McLean shine as Rams roll

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BRUNSWICK – Brunswick football coach Dick Leavitt said he hoped Bangor would come into Friday night’s contest overconfident, get surprised by his team and make enough mistakes to allow the young Dragons to challenge for the upset.

In short, everything had to go right.

That plan came unfurled in the first quarter, when senior quarterback, linebacker and team leader Reo Phillips was ejected for taking a swing at a Bangor player. Bangor romped, 42-19, to improve to 5-0.

Brunswick slipped to 3-2. Leavitt kicked his starter off the team earlier this season, and faced the Rams with his third QB, who was coming back from a separated shoulder.

Sure, the Dragons would have been forced to stop junior tank Hampton Clarkson, who ended up with a 104 yards on just 11 carries. And dangerous Chris McLean. And … oh, yeah, that little guy who wears No. 9.

In a word, No. 9 was tremendous. Although that wasn’t the word that Bangor coach Gabby Price chose when a grinning Tom Waterman greeted him after the win.

“Fantastic job, son,” Price told his senior quarterback, defensive back, punt returner and head popcorn-seller. “You were unbelievable. Wow.”

That he was.

Waterman carried 12 times for 153 yards and two touchdowns, completed two of five passing attempts – for touchdowns of 45 yards to Tim LeBlanc and 25 yards to Ryan Crane, and returned two punts for 70 yards.

He also intercepted a pass on the goal line and returned it 24 yards and recovered a fumble by backfield mate Chris McLean, caused an incompletion on a brutal hit across the middle, and made two TD-saving tackles on Pederson in the open field.

“That’s as good a high school game as I’ve seen a kid play in a long, long time,” Price said.

After Brunswick junior speedster Jim Pederson showed the Rams why he has gained more yards than any other back in the Pine Tree Conference on the game’s first drive, Bangor bounced back.

With Pederson’s 74-yard touchdown sprint fresh in their memories, the Rams answered with a seven-play, 53-yard drive that was capped when Waterman slipped around left end and scooted 11 yards untouched for the TD with 7:52 to go in the first.

“We knew that we would have to play extremely well, they would have to make some mistakes, and be looking by us,” Leavitt said.

The Rams may have looked past Brunswick for one possession, but after that, they were all business.

“I think [Pederson’s run] just set us in our place today and we just knew we had to come out and work harder,” Waterman said.

Brunswick was unable to muster much more offense, save for big plays by Pederson and backup Don Weed in the fourth. Pederson scampered 79 yards for one, and Weed went 44 yards for the other. Pederson finished with 14 rushes for 214 yards.

But before the Rams allowed Brunswick to score again, they put the game out of reach. Bangor scored the next six touchdowns to take a 42-7 lead.

Bangor, the PTC’s top ground-gainer coming in, did nothing to hurt that standing. The Rams finished with 376 yards on 45 carries – a gaudy 8.4 yards a pop.

Waterman sprinted 18 yards around the right end and Scott Sarjeant made it 14-7 with 7:08 left in the first, and Clarkson bulled his way in from the five to make it 21-7 with 5:15 to go in the second. Waterman’s bomb to LeBlanc with 2:17 left before intermission, combined with the absence of one of Brunswick’s top players, put the Dragons in a hole they couldn’t get out of.

Rams 42, Dragons 19

Bangor (5-0) 14 15 6 7 – 42

Brunswick (3-2) 7 0 0 12 – 19

Br – Pederson 74 run (Schaffer kick)

Ba – Waterman 11 run (Sarjeant kick)

Ba – Waterman 18 run (Sarjeant kick)

Ba – Clarkson 5 run (Sarjeant kick)

Ba – LeBlanc 45 pass from Waterman (Waterman pass to Scott)

Ba – Crane 25 pass from Waterman (kick failed)

Ba – Kane 7 run (Civiello kick)

Br – Pederson 79 run (pass failed)

Br – Weed 44 run (rush failed)

Bangor Brunswick

First downs 18 7 Rushing att. – yds 45-376 36-288 Passing cmp. – att. 2-5 0-3 Yards passing 70 0 Total yards 446 288 Intercepted by 1 0 Punts – avg. 1-29.0 7-36.6 Fumbles – lost 3-2 3-0 Penalties – yds 8-80 8-67

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Bangor – Waterman 12-153, Clarkson 11-104, Walsh 1-6, McAuliffe 4-40, McLean 9-29, Chadbourne 1-2, Kane 6-39, Jarrell 1-3; Brunswick – Pederson 14-214, Carpentier 10-27, Weed 4-16, Edwards 3-(-8), Chapman 1-(-1), Corscadden 4-(-12)

PASSING: Bangor – Waterman 2-5-0-70; Brunswick – Phillips 0-3-1-0, Corscadden 0-0-0-0

RECEIVING: Bangor – LeBlanc 1-45, Crane 1-25