5 Bangor football players suspended

BANGOR – The undefeated Bangor High School football team will attempt to win a state championship Saturday without five of its key players.

Bangor Superintendent of Schools Sandy Ervin confirmed that five players on the Rams’ 11-0 squad have been removed from the team as the result of an apparent drug incident that occurred Wednesday afternoon outside the Maine Mall in South Portland.

Two players allegedly were observed smoking marijuana while accompanied by three other teammates outside the Maine Mall in South Portland, where the team had stopped to eat on its way home from a practice session at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland.

An official at the South Portland Police Department contacted Wednesday night referred all questions to the department’s court officer Thursday.

“They are off the team,” said Ervin, who would not disclose the names of the individuals involved. “The ones that were smoking are automatically suspended [from school] for three days as per the [Bangor School Department’s substance abuse] policy. The other three, I’ve suspended them pending investigation.”

Coach Mark Hackett’s team now must regroup for Saturday’s 1 p.m. Class A football state championship game against Portland at Fitzpatrick Stadium.

“I’m very concerned that these other wonderful kids playing this game, who have had a wonderful season, will be affected by this incredible lack of judgment on the part of their teammates,” Ervin said. “I truly hope that come Saturday, they will play with the sense of pride that they’ve developed this season.”

The Rams had traveled to Portland Wednesday to get a feel for the new artificial surface at Fitzpatrick Stadium. On the way home, the team stopped at the mall.

While at the food court, the five players left the group and went outside of the mall. Ervin said the students were observed by surveillance cameras which apparently were being monitored by Maine Mall security personnel.

Two of the students, according to Ervin, were seen acting “suspiciously,” prompting security to investigate the situation.

“Two of the kids were smoking [marijuana]. The other three were not,” Ervin said. “They should have known the seriousness of the situation.”

One of the students, according to Ervin, also was found in possession of a Percocet (oxycodone) tablet, a highly addictive narcotic pain reliever.

However, because the drug is routinely used in the treatment of pain, Ervin could not rule out the possibility the pill might have been prescribed by a physician.

All student-athletes at Bangor High School are required prior to the season to sign a contract that acknowledges their understanding of school athletics rules and their intent to abide by the school’s substance abuse policy. Ervin did not have a copy of the policy with him, but said the students’ behavior was in direct violation of those rules.

“This is a very unfortunate part of the education of these five kids,” Ervin said. “It’s going to be a hard lesson for them, but I hope they learn from the fact they let down everybody else on the team; let down their family; let down their school; and everybody expected a whole lot more of them than apparently they were willing to give.”