SKOWHEGAN — They were outgained in rushing yardage, outlasted in time of possession, and outdone in first downs, but the Bangor Rams remained undefeated anyway.

And rather than do it the old-fashioned way (i.e., keep running at them as the offensive line wears them down), the Rams decided to try out a new weapon on the unsuspecting Skowhegan Indians: the (gasp) passing game.

Of course, quarterback Joe Vanidestine’s performance notwithstanding, the Rams still needed some of their trademark smash-mouth football on the defensive side to preserve a hard-fought, 13-6 victory at Reggie Clark Memorial Field Friday night.

Vanidestine won’t make anyone forget Ty Detmer or any other pass-happy Brigham Young University quarterback with his 6-for-11, 134-yard passing performance, but as far as the rest of the Pine Tree Conference is concerned, 4-0 Bangor has become more multi-dimensional — and a lot more worrisome.

Skowhegan is now 2-2.

“Joe had a good night, and I don’t know if it was that we unveiled the passing game so much as it was working for us,” said Bangor coach Gabby Price. “And the kids played great, on both sides.”

Vanidestine, in particular, played great on both sides as he also intercepted a pass about two inches outside the Bangor end zone in the fourth quarter as a fired-up Skowhegan squad was driving for the game-tying score.

“I was kind of worried when I saw where I landed with it, but I just wanted to get my hands on it and try to get it back so we could try and run out the clock,” Vanidestine said.

Talk about a tale of two halves. Bangor outgained the Indians 177 yards to 63 in the first half while taking a 13-0 lead into halftime.

Bangor scored on its initial drive as tight end James Bradford hauled in a quick-hitting pass from Vanidestine 10 yards out on fourth-and-7 from the Indians’ 31-yard line. The 6-foot-4 Bradford shook off two tackles, stutter-stepped as center Pat Knaide leveled two defenders with a devastating block, and shed one more tackler while sprinting down the sideline for a 31-yard touchdown reception that capped a six-play drive.

The Rams made it 13-0 seven minutes later with an 11-play, 79-yard drive featuring a 44-yard pass from Vanidestine to split end Mike Quirk in which Vanidestine hit Quirk in the hands on a dead run down the sideline.

Tailback Justin Libbey capped the drive with a three-yard TD run off right tackle with 1:59 left in the first.

Defense took over from there as Skowhegan threatened with a 10-play drive to the Rams’ 13, but a fourth-and-7 halfback option pass from Rod Gray fell incomplete.

The Indians broke the shutout, and became the first team to score on Bangor in the second half with a 15-play, 44-yard drive that ate 7:20 off the clock. Gray took advantage of a Rams’ pass interference penalty one play later with a four-yard TD run on a sweep right, but the PAT kick was blocked by lunging linebacker Rob Bastey with 52 seconds left in the third.

Following a Bangor punt, the Indians started driving again, moving from their own 49 to the Rams’ 25 in eight plays, but Vanidestine got in front of his receiver, jumped up, and snagged Josh Clark’s second-and-11 pass just short of the goal line with 7:08 to play.

Vanidestine then came up big again, as he moved the ball out to the B3 on two quarterback sneaks before hooking up with tight end Derrick Shain on a 27-yard pass play down the left side to get the Rams away from the shadow of their own goalpost.

“Vanidestine is quite the quarterback,” said Indians coach Bob LeCours. “We had some very good coverages and mixed it up on him, but he adjusted well.”

Then it was time for the Rams’ defense, led by Bradford (four tackles for losses) at defensive end and linebackers Stuart Cooper and Rob Bastey, to come up with their best stand: holding the Indians to one yard in four plays and allowing the Rams to take over on downs and run out the clock.

“Things got tough when they got down there, but we stood tall,” said Bradford. “It was just a matter of the defensive line asserting itself.”

Skowhegan outgained Bangor 137 yards to 93 on the ground and had two more first downs than the Rams.

Rams 13, Indians 6

Bangor (4-0) 7 6 0 0 – 13 Skowhegan (2-2) 0 0 6 0 – 6 B – Bradford 31 pass from Vanidestine (Bouchard kick) B – Libbey 3 run (pass failed) S – Gray 4 run (kick blocked)

Bangor Skowhegan

First downs 8 10 Rushing att. – yds 33-93 41-137 Passing cmp. – att. 6-11 1-6 Yards passing 134 24 Total yards 227 161 Intercepted by 1 0 Punts – avg. 4-34.3 3-25 Fumbles – lost 1-0 2-0 Penalties – yds 4-40 3-35

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – Bangor: Libbey 20-85, Bouchard 6-12, Johnson 1-2, Cammack 1-2, Baird 1-1, Vanidestine 3-minus 4, Quirk 1-minus 5; Skowhegan: Williams 12-75, Gray 21-53, Nelson 6-6, Nichols 1-4, Kirby 1-minus 1

PASSING – Bangor: Vanidestine 6-11-0-134; Skowhegan: Clark 1-6-1-24 RECEIVING – Bangor: Quirk 1-44, Bradford 1-31, Shain 1-27, Baird 2-19; Skowhegan: Gray 1-24