Rams roll by Indians Bangor displays balanced offense

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SKOWHEGAN – After all the preseason football talk about how balanced Bangor was going to be on offense and how defense would again lead the way for the Rams, it was time to show people Friday whether there was anything to it.

If the Rams’ 30-0 dismantling of a youthful Skowhegan team is any indication, the talk was understated, not overblown. Bangor used a versatile offensive attack and dominating defense to take control of the game midway through the opening quarter and never gave it up.

And if you thought all that stuff about the Rams having a passing game was just smoke, take a look at the fire Bangor lit at Clark Memorial Field. Bangor opened the 2001 season with three straight passes. That’s right. Three consecutive passes for a traditional running team.

It was almost clinical how the Rams executed their offensive diversity: After going three downs and punting, Bangor set tailback Buddy Nickerson loose on the Indians. Nickerson gained 2 yards here, 3 there. … Then quarterback Chris Bombardier got into the act, a 7-yard gain off a delay here, a 26-yard pass to the left flat to sure-handed junior split end Zak Ray there, an 8-yard option run later on.

Oh, and let’s not forget fullback D.J. Johnson, who really got things going by running through, running over, or shaking loose four tacklers on a 25-yard gain before Nickerson went back to work and capped a 96-yard, 11-play scoring drive that ate up 4 minutes, 37 seconds off the clock.

“I think we have so many weapons, defenses can’t look for just one person,” Bombardier said. “We give it to D.J., they tackle him and then think it’s going to him again, but we give it to Buddy. Then he rips off a big run and they key on him, but we give it to [Justin] Schmersal, then they just don’t know, and when we pass, they’re clueless.”

Bombardier had clues to spare, completing nine of 15 passes for 148 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions.

Want balance? Throw in Nickerson’s 152 yards on 23 carries as the Rams averaged 4.9 yards per carry en route to 228 rushing yards behind the big line of Ben Guerette, Danny Logan, J.J. Jackson, Conor Stephens, and Trevor LaGrange.

“[Assistant] Coach [John] Tennett wants to make sure he runs the whole gamut. It’s series football and it takes awhile to get going, but it’s fun to watch when it does and it makes us tougher to stop,” said Rams coach Mark Hackett, who starts his head coaching career with a win.

Bangor’s defense did nothing to hint that it would have a letdown after filling several graduation-related lineup holes. The interior line of Jackson, Stephens, Johnson, Steve Ferguson, and Guerette brought the pressure to Skowhegan star quarterback B.J. Dunlap all game long.

“D.J. played fantastic. Even if he’s not making a tackle for a 5-yard loss, he’s disrupting things,” said Guerette. “The whole D-line played great and our secondary shut down a great passing team.”

Johnson may have suffered an ankle sprain after being involved in a four-way sack of Dunlap in the third quarter. It was one of three Ram sacks as they limited Dunlap to 62 yards on 6-for-16 passing. Defensive tackles Jackson and Corey Mayhew led Bangor’s bull rush up front with two sacks apiece. The Indians didn’t do much on the ground either, as they gained only 66 total rushing yards.

“Holy Lord, they’re very, very big; they’re very confident; and they got on a roll tonight. What else can you say?” said Indians coach Bob LeCours.

Bangor benefited from a snap over Dunlap’s head and into the end zone for a safety on a punt play in the second quarter. The Rams added another score with 39 seconds left in the half on Mike Prentiss’ 45-yard touchdown reception after he caught a ball in the flat, juked two defenders, and sprinted untouched to the end zone.

The Rams made it 23-0 early in the third on a 54-yard drive highlighted by Nickerson’s 46-yard run on a sweep left and then capped the scoring with 10-play drive ending with Derrick Shain’s 3-yard TD grab with 6:31 to play.

RAMS 30, INDIANS 0

Bangor (1-0) 7 9 7 7 ? 30

Skowhegan (0-1) 0 0 0 0 ? 0

B ? Nickerson 4 run (Achorn kick)

B ? Safety, punt snapped out of end zone

B ? Prentiss 45 pass from Bombardier (Achorn kick)

B ? Johnson 1 run (Achorn kick)

B ? Shain 3 pass from Bombardier (Achorn kick)

Bangor Skowhegan

First downs 17 10

Rushing att.-yards 47-228 31-66

Passing comp.-att. 9-15 6-16

Passing yards 148 62

Total yards 376 128

Punts-avg. 2-40.0 6-37.2

Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-0

Intercepted by 0 0

Penalties-yards 3-15 2-20

Rushing

Bangor: Nickerson 23-152, Johnson 9-60, Largay 7-9, Bombardier 7-7, Heber 1-0; Skowhegan: Walker 16-57, Meyer 5-29, Davis 4-17, Dunlap 6-(-37)

Passing

Bangor: Bombardier 9-15-0-148; Skowhegan: Dunlap 6-16-0-62

Receiving

Bangor: Prentiss 1-45, Schmersal 4-44, Ray 2-35, Shain 2-24; Skowhegan: Bird 1-18, Carey 1-18, Meyer 2-13, Lancaster 1-10, Quirion 1-3

A?500 (est.)