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BANGOR – Sometimes the onslaught is sudden, a long gainer after a series of short bursts.
Sometimes it is cumulative, a wearing down of the opposition that ultimately produces a statistical landslide.
Mike Prentiss and the Bangor High School offensive line gave visiting Mt. Blue a taste of both Friday night as the Rams rolled to a 40-21 victory in their Pine Tree Conference Class A semifinal at Cameron Stadium.
Prentiss rushed for 274 yards – 200 after intermission – on 35 carries and scored four touchdowns as top-seeded Bangor earned its eighth straight victory and a home date next weekend against No. 2 Brunswick in the PTC title game. Brunswick edged Gardiner 28-21 in Friday’s other semifinal.
As the game wore on, Mt. Blue – which entered the game with a six-game win streak of its own – had no answer for Prentiss or the offensive line of Trevor Lagrange, Eric Anderson, Ricky Dexter, Danny Day, Kyle Oliver and tight ends P.J. Dowe and Kevin Flynn.
“Their line wore us down,” said Mt. Blue coach Gary Parlin. “Our goal was to was to keep [Prentiss] out of our secondary, because once he gets into the secondary – I don’t care what team it is, I don’t care if it’s Deering – he is a tremendous runner and tough to stop.”
It did take Prentiss and his line a while to get going. He gained just 20 yards on nine carries in the first quarter, with no run longer than 4 yards. But a 47-yard gain in the second quarter was a sign of the possibilities, and the second half produced seven runs of at least 11 yards, capped by a 78-yard touchdown run midway through the final quarter.
“We always consider ourselves a second-half team,” said Lagrange. “That’s our goal, to wear them down by the end of the game and make big plays.”
Bangor also got a solid effort from sophomore fullback Nick Payson, who rushed for 47 yards on 11 carries and scored Bangor’s final TD on a 1-yard run late in the fourth quarter.
“In the first half our guys kept pounding them,” said Prentiss, who had rushed for more than 300 yards in Bangor’s 29-7 regular-season win over Mt. Blue. “And when we came out in the second half we were ready for them and the line just kept pounding them.”
Mt. Blue challenged Bangor early in this contest, taking the opening kickoff and marching 57 yards in 12 plays for a 6-0 lead on Derek Taber’s 2-yard dive less than five minutes into the game.
Bangor countered with its own 12-play, 57-yard march, with quarterback Shaun Sullivan connecting with Flynn on an 18-yard TD pass to give the Rams a 7-6 lead with 2:08 left in the first quarter.
Prentiss then scored his first touchdown on defense, returning a fumble 32 yards for a score 12 seconds later after linebacker Dave Berry stripped Mt. Blue tailback Lance Meader (28 carries, 131 yards) of the football.
The Rams threatened to blow the game open when Paul Russell jarred an onsides kick loose from Mt. Blue’s Dave Fish and Dowe recovered at the Cougars’ 36.
Mt. Blue held on this occasion, but couldn’t muster any subsequent offense of its own, punting three times in the second quarter.
“They changed some things up defensively, but we just weren’t able to sustain,” Parlin said. “In that first drive, we had all positive-yardage plays, but we just couldn’t sustain.”
Prentiss’ 47-yard run set up his first offensive score, a 1-yard run with 19.7 seconds left in the half to give Bangor a 19-6 lead.
Joe Starbird’s second interception of the game set up Meader for a 32-yard TD run with 4:36 left in the third quarter to pull Mt. Blue within 19-13.
Bangor then marched 78 yards, with Prentiss scoring from 11 yards out to restore the Rams to a 27-13 cushion with 10:25 left.
Mt. Blue then drove to the Bangor 22 before a fourth-down pass by Garrett Lake (11 of 23, 135 yards) went incomplete.
On the next play, Prentiss went off right tackle 78 yards to the end zone to push Bangor’s lead to 34-13 with 7:22 left.
Meader scored Mt. Blue’s final TD on a 6-yard run before Payson completed the scoring with 1:15 left.
“We really believed that if we could score 20 points up here we could win the way our defense has been playing,” said Parlin. “But hats off to [Bangor’s] offense. We think that’s the PTC champs right there.”
RAMS 40, COUGARS 21
Mt. Blue (7-3) 6 0 7 8 ? 21
Bangor (9-1) 13 6 0 21 ? 40
M ? Taber 2 run (kick failed)
B ? Flynn 18 pass from Sullivan (Heath kick)
B ? Prentiss 32 fumble return (kick failed)
B ? Prentiss 1 run (kick failed)
M ? Meader 32 run (Moloney kick)
B ? Prentiss 11 run (Prentiss rush)
B ? Prentiss 78 run (Heath kick)
M ? Meader 6 run (Lake pass to Beaulieu)
B ? N. Payson 1 run (kick failed)
Mt. Blue Bangor
First downs 16 18
Rushing att.-yards 34-153 52-335
Passing comp.-att. 13-27 4-10
Passing yards 153 40
Total yards 306 375
Punts-avg. 4-30.7 3-34.0
Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0
Intercepted by 2 0
Penalties-yards 7-37 3-15
Rushing
Mt. Blue: Meader 28-131, Fish 2-10, Taber 3-8, Lake 1-4; Bangor: Prentiss 35-274, N. Payson 11-47, Gallant 3-12, Heber 2-2, Sullivan 1-0
Passing
Mt. Blue: Lake 11-23-0-135, Sinclair 2-4-0-18; Bangor: Sullivan 4-10-2-40
Receiving
Mt. Blue: Tinguely 5-79, Hardy 4-16, Beaulieu 2-23, Bolduc 1-24, Starbird 1-11; Bangor: DeRosa 2-21, Flynn 1-18, Prentiss 1-1
A?1,500 (est)
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