The mirror never lies. For the five Bangor High School football players who were suspended for substance abuse three days before the State Class A championship game, the mirror could have haunted them forever.

Had the Portland High School Bulldogs beaten Bangor, those five players would have seen the faces of their betrayed teammates in the shadows of their mirrors forever.

But their teammates bailed them out with a 20-14 triumph.

The difference between a very good team and a great team is the ability to overcome adversity.

Suspensions are a part of sports. So are injuries and sub-par performances.

When these situations occur, it is up to the available regulars to pick their games up a notch and for the players newly inserted into the lineup to hold their own and minimize the loss of the injured, suspended or struggling players.

That is exactly what happened.

Bangor Superintendent of Schools Sandy Ervin, BHS principal Norris Nickerson, athletic director Steve Vanidestine and coach Mark Hackett handled the situation the way it should have been handled.

Not only were the players suspended immediately, the decision was made to announce the suspensions the night it happened.

It would have been easy to sit on the information until it was discovered by the media.

The five players learned a lesson the hard way.

They were not able to share the ecstatic glee that comes with winning a state championship.

To be the best team in the state is the ultimate achievement, especially in football.

Football is the most physically demanding of all sports beginning with the drudgery of two-a-days in the summer heat wearing 40 pounds of pads.

Your sweat-drenched uniform smells rancid and the black flies attack the areas of skin that are exposed (i.e. calves).

The body is shouting at you during those last few wind sprints that conclude the second practice of the day.

It tells you it can’t go another step.

But, somehow, it does.

Nobody goes unscathed.

You ache somewhere for the whole season. A thigh one week, a shoulder the next.

The lucky ones have manageable pain and are able to play.

The unlucky ones aren’t due to the severity of their injuries.

Bangor’s state championship was the school’s 39th in all sports since 1984 and 71st all-time. The Rams are the defending State Class A basketball champs.

Detractors will say Bangor High should be good because it has the largest enrollment in the state.

It doesn’t work that way.

That doesn’t ensure anything.

The 2001 Ram football team will be known for being the first Eastern Maine team since 1981 to win a state Class A title and for going undefeated. It also won the state on the other team’s home field and on an unfamiliar artificial surface.

It will also be known for its resilience, its depth and its ability to defy the odds.

For the five suspended players and every athlete in every sport, the lesson learned was that you are always held accountable for your actions.

You must consider the consequences before you make a decision.

They made maybe the biggest mistake of their young lives but their teammates bailed them out.

The five players played roles in getting the Rams to the state final and missing the jubilation of Saturday’s win will pain them forever.

Everybody makes mistakes.

Let’s hope they learned from theirs.

The fact they have been included in the post-season banquet is a good start to the healing process.

They will be able to look in the mirror again.

Larry Mahoney’s column appears every Wednesday. He can be reached at 990-8231 or by email at lmahoney@bangordailynews.net