Rams roll to second victory Payson scores 4 touchdowns

loading...

BANGOR – Bangor’s first play from scrimmage against Cheverus on Friday night resulted in a 3-yard loss.

On the next play, the Rams fumbled the ball, and although they did recover, there may have been a momentary flashback to one year ago, when Bangor trekked to Portland and were handed a shutout loss by the Stags.

But any flashback was very momentary.

For the rest of the evening, virtually everything worked, and Bangor rolled to a 42-0 Class A football victory.

“Everybody on the team was fired up,” said junior tailback Nick Payson, who rushed for 130 yards and four touchdowns, all in the first half. “We really don’t like to get shut out, so we came out fired up and hoping for the best.”

The 2-0 Rams so dominated play that 42-0 was also the score with 8 minutes left in the second quarter.

“We finally exploded,” said Bangor coach Mark Hackett. “They looked like they really enjoyed playing the game tonight, and up to this time we’ve been so concerned with our assignments and positions and weren’t really comfortable.”

Senior fullback Ricky Dexter added 93 rushing yards and two scores before the break as Bangor ran at will behind an offensive line featuring seniors Andrew Trundy, Eric Anderson, Jeremy Tyler, Kyle Oliver and tight end Paul Russell.

“The O-line was playing pretty big,” said Payson. “They made lot of big holes and the field was open so I just made some big runs.”

Bangor finished with 376 total yards, 333 yards on the ground despite the fact that senior tailback Aaron Gallant – who split duty with Payson during the Rams’ season-opening win over Edward Little – did not play offense against Cheverus due to back spasms.

The Rams’ defense was equally adept, limiting 0-2 Cheverus to 50 total yards and just one first down.

And the special teams also delivered, with deep kickoffs by junior Tyson Barron, accurate punting by senior T.J. Vanidestine, and a pair of jarring tackles by sophomore Ben Bambrick among the highlights.

Payson gave Bangor a 7-0 lead with a 49-yard run behind Dexter’s lead block with 7:31 left in the opening quarter.

Payson scored from 7 yards out and later recovered a Ben Michaud fumble to set up a 5-yard score by Dexter that gave Bangor a 21-0 lead in the final minute of the first quarter.

Barron popped the subsequent kickoff just over the Cheverus front line, and junior Keith Clifford recovered at the Stags’ 25. Three plays later, Dexter scored on an 8-yard run on the first play of the second period.

Payson added scoring runs of 22 and 4 yards on the Rams’ next two possessions, giving Bangor its 42-0 lead with 8:06 left in the second quarter.

“Tonight with everything clicking on all cylinders,” Hackett said, “I think we just exploded and started to become the football team we know we can be.”

RAMS 42, STAGS 0

Cheverus (0-2) 0 0 0 0 ? 0

Bangor (2-0) 21 21 0 0 ? 42

B ? Payson 49 run (Barron kick)

B ? Payson 7 run (Barron kick)

B ? Dexter 5 run (Barron kick)

B ? Dexter 18 run (Barron kick)

B ? Payson 22 run (Barron kick)

B ? Payson 4 run (Barron kick)

Cheverus Bangor

First downs 1 12

Rushing att.-yards 24-31 50-333

Passing comp.-att. 5-11 2-4

Passing yards 19 43

Total yards 50 376

Punts-avg. 8-33.4 5-33.8

Fumbles-lost 5-3 2-0

Intercepted by 0 1

Penalties-yards 5-32 3-15

Rushing

Cheverus: Michaud 10-26, Coulombe 3-8, Blais 8-6, Oakes 1-(-1), Clow 1-(-3), Savasuk 1-(-5); Bangor: Payson 14-130, Dexter 11-93, Ingraham 8-48, Hackett 2-16, Alex Gallant 1-15, Higgins 4-14, DeRosa 1-7, Wilcox 2-6, Clukey 7-4

Passing

Cheverus: Coulombe 5-11-1-19; Bangor: Hackett 2-4-0-43

Receiving

Cheverus: Hinman 3-10, Chow 1-5, Michaud 1-4; Bangor: DeRosa 1-25, Vanidestine 1-18

A?650 (est.)