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PORTLAND – The team that couldn’t be stopped very nearly was, but thanks to some halftime adjustments and a redoubled offensive effort in the second half, the Massabesic Mustangs were able to keep their dream season from ending up a nightmare.
Fullback Joe Olszewski’s touchdown run with 59 seconds left was the difference as the Mustangs of Waterboro held on for a 26-21 win over Bangor in the Class A state championship game on a bright, brisk Saturday afternoon in front of 6,500 Fitzpatrick Stadium fans.
“This all kind of started for us in preseason,” said Mustangs special teams coach and Bangor alum Andrew Soldati. “We scrimmaged Cheverus and afterward we had the kids come over here and look over the fence at the stadium. From that day on, those kids believed they were going to be here.”
The win gave the 12-0 Mustangs their first state football title. Bangor wound up its season 9-2.
“This was our goal. This was the main game right here,” said Olszewski, who ran for two touchdowns and a game-high 129 yards on 32 carries. “It’s the perfect end to a season we dreamed about.”
Olszewski made that dream reality with 31 yards on six carries in Massabesic’s game-winning, nine-play, 70-yard touchdown drive.
The key play was slotback Matt Woodward’s catch of a 27-yard sideline pass on 2nd-and-10 from the M-42. The big play was Olszewski’s eight-yard TD run. The key factor was the play of the Mustangs’ offensive line, which averaged 245 pounds per man.
“We’re pretty well conditioned even though we’re all big guys. Jay [quarterback Jason O’Tash] got in the huddle, looked at us and said `1-2-3-4-5,’ ” center-defensive end Tom Thornton said, mimicking O’Tash pointing his finger at each lineman. “‘This is your game. If you want it, take it’ … and we took it.”
But not before Bangor got one more chance to retake the lead. After Mike Quirk’s 13-yard kickoff return put the Rams at their own 26 with 53 seconds left, quarterback Joe Vanidestine hit wingback Justin Schmersal near the right sideline for an eight-yard gain. A three-yard pass to Quirk gave Bangor a first down at the B-37.
After two incompletions, tailback Joe Cammack notched another Rams’ first down with a 10-yard burst to the left. Pressure from Thornton forced Vanidestine to throw incomplete, giving Bangor 2nd-and-10 from the B-47. With 15 seconds left, Vanidestine faded back and zipped a deep pass to Quirk on the left side of the field. Mustangs outside linebacker Mike Bennett sprinted up, cut in front of Quirk, and intercepted the pass at the 50. O’Tash then came out, kneeled down, and ran the final eight seconds off the clock as jubilation reigned on the Massabesic sideline.
“The line wasn’t laying down for anybody. They won it for us in the end,” Bennett said. “There wasn’t one person who won it for us today. It was a team effort.”
Thornton said the dream began with last season’s loss to Sanford in the West semifinals.
“Last year, I told all the other guys I was never losing another game again,” said Thornton, who was converted from tight end to center after starter Steve Bridges underwent knee surgery early in the season. “That’s what I put on my goal sheet at the start of the year because if you don’t reach high, you’ll never reach anything.”
Bangor showed the Mustangs they’d have to reach as far as they could from the outset by taking the opening kickoff and marching 65 yards in 10 plays to grab a 7-0 lead three minutes into the game.
The drive started with a 26-yard pass completion to tight end Derrick Shain and ended with Schmersal’s recovery of Cammack’s fumble in the end zone after Cammack had bulled his way in from the 10-yard line.
Massabesic answered two possessions later after a 15-yard Rams punt, The Mustangs drove 34 yards on seven plays, the last one a 14-yard TD pass from O’Tash to a wide-open Rob Noble, who slipped into the left side of the end zone.
Bangor made it 14-6 with 6:59 left in the second quarter, four plays after stopping Massabesic on 4th-and-10 from the B-31. This time, Cammack scored on a 1-yard run.
The ‘Stangs stormed out of the locker room at halftime, returned the kickoff 25 yards, and drove 67 yards on seven plays – all runs, the last of which was Olszewski’s 17-yarder for a TD.
“The turning point was halftime,” said Mustangs coach John Morin. “They did some nice things to mess up our reads, so we went to a little bit more of a power set and used the wide dive instead of the inside dive and it made all the difference in the world.”
All of a sudden, the Mustang run game, held to 64 yards (3.0 per carry) in the first half, was back.
“We didn’t want the quarterback running the ball and we wanted to try and stop the fullback, which we did until they played PTC football and powered the ball against us,” said Bangor coach Gabby Price. “With those big splits and linemen, that was hard for us.”
The Mustangs ran right at Bangor, using its aggressiveness to its advantage. After watching Bangor stuff his vaunted triple option and dual 1,000-yard rushers O’Tash and Olszewski in the first half, Morin threw the Rams a curve.
“We became more of a power team, which people really don’t think of us as, but we can button it up and smack you in the mouth if we have to,” Morin said.
The Mustangs took their first lead of the game 81/2 minutes later as O’Tash found Noble again, this time for a 26-yard TD reception on 3rd-and-2. O’Tash’s PAT conversion rush made it 20-14.
Bangor retook the lead with 3:30 left in the game on a perfectly-executed counter/reverse from Vanidestine to Cammack to Schmersal, who ran almost untouched for a nine-yard TD.
Shawn Bouchard’s PAT kick capped a 10-play, 68-yard drive and made it 21-20, but the Rams left the Mustangs a little too much time.
Cammack (126 yards rushing), Quirk (104 receiving) and Vanidestine (game-high 150 yards passing) led the Bangor offense. Jared Hockman (three sacks, two forced fumbles), Corey Mayhew (two sacks, one forced fumble) and Shain (one sack) led a Rams defense that notched six sacks and 21 plays for no or negative yardage.
Mustangs 26, Rams 21 Bangor (9-2) 7 7 0 7 – 21 Massabesic (12-0) 6 0 14 6 – 26
B – Schmersal fumble recovery in end zone (Bouchard kick) M – Noble 14 pass from O’Tash (kick failed) B – Cammack 1 run (Bouchard kick) M – Olszewski 17 run (rush failed) M – Noble 26 pass from O’Tash (O’Tash rush) B – Schmersal 9 run (Bouchard kick) M – Olszewski 8 run (rush failed)
Bangor Massabesic
First downs 11 20 Rushing att. – yds 35-145 54-235 Passing cmp. – att. 7-22 4-10 Yards passing 150 75 Total yards 295 310 Intercepted by 0 2 Punts – avg. 4-21.8 3-31.3 Fumbles – lost 4-1 3-1 Penalties – yds 7-50 2-25
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – Bangor: Cammack 27-126, Schmersal 4-14, Vanidestine 2-5, Bouchard 1-0, Johnson 1-0; Massabesic: Olszewski 32-129, Bennett 5-66, O’Tash 15-23, Woodard 1-17, Noble 1-0
PASSING – Bangor: Vanidestine 7-22-2-150; Massabesic: O’Tash 4-10-0-75
RECEIVING – Bangor: Quirk 4-107, Shain 2-35, Schmersal 1-8; Massabesic: Noble 2-40, Woodward 1-27, Eggleton 1-8
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