BANGOR – Kyle Oliver and his mates along the line of scrimmage provide an imposing obstacle for opponents on both offense and defense.

But the Bangor High linemen are so big – averaging about 6-foot-4, 250 pounds – that the key to their success often is the ability to get low to the ground so smaller opponents can’t get to their legs.

“Getting low is the important thing,” said Oliver, a senior offensive guard and defensive tackle. “We’ve been working on that a lot.”

Bangor big guys dominated the line of scrimmage Friday night, paving the way for the Rams’ running backs to pound out 316 rushing yards in a 46-8 victory against Waterville at Cameron Stadium.

“The line did the job tonight,” said Bangor coach Mark Hackett, whose team improved its record to 5-1.

Junior tailback Nick Payson led Bangor’s ground game with 172 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries. Of those carries, just one went for negative yardage as Payson worked behind the offensive front of Oliver, Andrew Trundy, Jeremy Tyler, Eric Anderson and Andy Gould.

“One thing about Nick,” said Hackett, “is that he rarely loses yardage when he carries the ball.”

Seven other running backs carried the ball for Bangor, which moved out to a 24-8 halftime lead and put the game away by marching 64 yards in 10 plays after taking the second-half kickoff to score on a 1-yard run by senior quarterback Brian Hackett.

Defensively, the Rams limited Waterville to 175 total yards, as Oliver, Anderson and linebacker Ricky Dexter provided some of the biggest hits of the night.

The Purple Panthers (1-1) also were shorthanded, as starting tailback Tyler Madore left the game due to injury in the first half and promising freshman quarterback Dan Hussey suffered a neck injury late in the third quarter and was taken to the hospital by ambulance as a precautionary measure.

“We’re young, and the injuries hurt us, but we didn’t come out and play inspired football tonight,” said Waterville coach Frank Knight.

Payson scored on runs of 5 and 4 yards to give Bangor a 16-0 and the Rams added a safety as time expired in the first quarter by tackling Waterville punt returner Mike Bernhardt in the end zone after Bernhardt fielded a T.J. Vanidestine punt at the 1.

Payson scored from 10 yards out midway through the second quarter to extend Bangor’s lead to 24-0.

Waterville marched 79 yards in 16 plays to score on a 22-yard pass from Hussey to senior tight end Brian Tormollan with 16.4 seconds left in the half.

Hussey (7 of 11 passing, 67 yards) rushed four times for 26 yards early in the drive, then completed five passes to Tormollan for 46 yards, the final one in the right corner of the end zone as Tormollan beat two defenders to the ball.

Payson rushed five times for 42 yards on the opening drive of the second half, including third-down gains of 16 and 14 yards for first downs before Brian Hackett capped off the march with his scoring run to make it 32-8.

Bangor’s Jon Ingraham scored on a 1-yard late in the third quarter after teammate Nick Buchanan tackled Waterville punter Nick Stone on the 1 after a high center snap.

Julien Collard-Seguin added Bangor’s final touchdown on a 2-yard run with 1:51 left in the game.

Waterville finished with 108 rushing yards, as Bernhardt gained 56 yards on eight carries and workhorse fullback-linebacker Jon Hart added 42 yards on 11 tries.

RAMS 46, PURPLE PANTHERS 8

Waterville (1-5) 0 8 0 0 – 8

Bangor (5-1) 16 8 8 14 – 46

B-Payson 5 run (Kick failed)

B-Payson 4 run (Hackett pass to DeRosa)

B-Safety, M. Bernhardt tackled in endzone.

B-Payson 10 run (Hackett pass to DeRosa)

W-Tormollan 22 pass from Hussey (Hussey pass to Tormollan)

B-B. Hackett 1 run (Clifford rush)

B-Ingraham 1 run (Barron kick)

B-Collard-Seguin 2 run (Lust kick)

Waterville Bangor

First downs 9 14

Rushing att.-yards 36-108 57-316

Passing comp.-att. 7-14 1-6

Passing yards 67 4

Total yards 175 320

Punts-avg. 4-32.5 39.7

Fumbles-lost 6-3 2-0

Intercepted by 1 0

Penalties-yards 2-10 6-53

Rushing

Waterville: M. Bernhardt 8-56, Hart 11-42, Hussey 13-30, Lancaster 1-0, Madore 2-0, Stone 1-(-20); Bangor: Payson 23-172, Dexter 7-28, Ingraham 7-26, Aa. Gallant 4-23, B. Hackett 7-22, Vanidestine 3-17, Clifford 2-6, Wilcox 1-6

Passing

Waterville: Hussey 7-11-0-67, Lancaster 0-4-0-0; Bangor: B. Hackett 1-5-0-4, Vanidestine 0-1-1-0

Receiving

Waterville: Tormollan 5-46, Allen 1-13, Madore 1-8; Bangor: DeRosa 1-4

A- 850 (est.)