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BANGOR – P.J. Dowe remembers the anguish the Bangor High School football team felt after being upset in the first round of last year’s Pine Tree Conference playoffs.
He and his teammates were determined not to let it happen again as the top-seeded Rams played No. 8 Lewiston in a PTC quarterfinal at Cameron Stadium on Friday night.
“It was a huge motivator,” said Dowe. “We came out and lost to Waterville last year, maybe we looked past them a little bit. This time we didn’t want to look past anyone, we wanted to make sure we made it to the second round.”
Not to worry, if you’re a Bangor fan, as the Rams used offensive balance and a stifling defense to defeat the visiting Blue Devils 41-7
The win, Bangor’s seventh straight, improves coach Mark Hackett’s club to 8-1 on the season. The Rams will play host to No. 4 Mt. Blue of Farmington – an 18-0 winner over Skowhegan on Friday night – in next weekend’s semifinal round.
Lewiston finished at 3-6.
“We played very well,” Dowe said. “The first game is always the hardest, and to come out and play as well as we did says a lot about our team.”
Mike Prentiss led the Bangor offense with 139 yards and three rushing touchdowns on 22 carries, along with a 46-yard punt return for a TD that gave the Rams a 7-0 lead less than 4 minutes into the game.
“I just remember the hole opened up to the right, and I hit it,” said Prentiss, who now has more than 1,600 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns on the season.
Tyler Heber added 86 yards and two scores on 18 carries against Lewiston, including 11 carries for 65 yards during a 5:17 drive in the fourth quarter which ended with him scoring Bangor’s last touchdown from 1 yard out.
But while Lewiston’s defense focused on Prentiss, Bangor’s passing attack contributed big plays at critical times as Bangor methodically pulled away.
Senior quarterback Shaun Sullivan completed 5 of 12 passes for 111 yards, including two passes for 71 yards to Matt Cassidy that set up a pair of Bangor scores.
“[Lewiston] took Prentiss away, or at least tried, and we had to go to the pass game,” said Hackett, whose team was without a starter who was dismissed from the team for disciplinary reasons. “We can do that, we just haven’t had to do it a lot this year. We threw to run the ball tonight, which is unusual for us.”
“We had some mental breakdowns, some pretty crucial mistakes,” added Lewiston coach Bill County. “Bangor’s a great team, and if you make a mistake – you give up a special-teams touchdown early on and then give up long passes – they’re going to hurt you with it.”
While Bangor amassed 356 yards in total offense, Lewiston managed just 167 yards, including 46 on a touchdown run by quarterback Chris Ford early in the second quarter after he scooped up a fumble by teammate James Spaulding.
For most of the night, Lewiston struggled offensively. Spaulding, who rushed for 1,200 yards during the regular season, was limited to 66 yards on 22 carries.
“The defensive line played great,” Dowe said. “We just hit them hard up front.”
Bangor also had three interceptions, by Brian Lever, Jordan Heath and Prentiss.
The Rams held a 21-7 halftime lead, with Prentiss scoring on runs of 2 and 22 yards in addition to his early punt return. His 2-yard score came one play after Sullivan hit Cassidy down the right sideline for a 41-yard gain.
Bangor’s best sustained offense came in the second half. A 30-yard Sullivan-to-Cassidy collaboration set up a 13-yard TD run by Prentiss on the Rams’ first possession of the second half to extend the lead to 28-7.
Heber scored on a 7-yard run late in the period, capping a nine-play, 74-yard march that featured passes of 13 and 15 yards from Sullivan to Anthony DeRosa.
RAMS 41, BLUE DEVILS 7
Lewiston (3-6) 0 7 0 0 ? 7
Bangor (8-1) 14 7 14 6 ? 41
B ? Prentiss 46 punt return (Heath kick)
B ? Prentiss 2 run (Heath kick)
L ? Ford 46 run (Thiberge kick)
B ? Prentiss 22 run (Heath kick)
B ? Prentiss 2 run (Heath kick)
B ? Heber 7 run (Heath kick)
B ? Heber 1 run (kick failed)
Lewiston Bangor
First downs 7 15
Rushing att.-yards 37-116 48-245
Passing comp.-att. 6-16 5-12
Passing yards 51 111
Total yards 167 356
Punts-avg. 6-19.5 3-26.0
Fumbles-lost 3-1 0-0
Intercepted by 0 3
Penalties-yards 1-4 0-0
Rushing
Lewiston: Spaulding 22-66, Ford 9-36, Foisy 3-10, Cobb 3-4; Bangor: Prentiss 22-139, Heber 18-86, N. Payson 5-20, Gallant 2-0, St. John 1-0
Passing
Lewiston: Carrier 5-12-1-35, Ford 1-3-2-16, Spaulding 0-1-0-0; Bangor: Sullivan 5-12-0-111
Receiving
Lewiston: Spaulding 3-14, Chaput 2-29, Foisy 1-8; Bangor: Cassidy 2-71, Derosa 2-28, McPike 1-12
A?1,000 (est.)
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