BANGOR – It was Homecoming, a home-field playoff game was at stake, and the Bangor High football team was on its collective heels at intermission.

But halftime emotion evolved into second-half determination, and junior Nick Payson starred on both sides of the line of scrimmage as the Rams rallied to power past stubborn Messalonskee of Oakland 21-14 at Cameron Stadium on Friday night.

“It’s a great step,” said Bangor senior lineman Eric Anderson. “Down at the half by seven, to come out and shut them down in the second half and score 14 to win is big for us.”

Payson rushed for 204 yards on 36 carries, including 25 rushes for 132 yards and two touchdowns after the break as Bangor erased a 14-7 deficit.

He also came up big defensively from his strong safety slot, intercepting a third-quarter pass by Messalonskee quarterback Ted Fabian and making two key defensive stops on Eagles’ standout Chris Duffy – the second one for a loss of seven yards on fourth-and-3 inside the Bangor 10 with the Rams clinging to its seven-point lead with 6:39 left in the game.

“Nick’s really starting to play defense,” said Bangor coach Mark Hackett. “He’s an aggressive guy, and on that big stop we had down there on fourth down, they’d been running outside quite a bit and I asked him if he wanted to stunt, and he said let us stunt, and he got him in the backfield.

“That was a huge play.”

The win ensures 7-1 Bangor a home game in the Eastern Maine Class A quarterfinals next weekend, though the Rams’ opponent won’t be determined until Crabtree points are finalized later this weekend. Messalonskee, 6-2, also is playoff-bound, though the Eagles now face a road game.

Duffy, the leading rusher in the Pine Tree Conference Class A ranks, finished with 123 yards on 24 carries, but that was more than 50 yards less than his 174.4-yard average for the season entering the game.

“We know Duffy’s a key player on their team, he’s one of the best backs in the league,” said Payson. “So all week we were working on the run and it worked out tonight. He had some good runs, he had a good game, but we ended up stopping him.”

Actually it was Messalonskee’s passing game that staked the Eagles to a 14-7 halftime lead.

Bangor actually made the game’s first aerial assault, as Brian Hackett hit Anthony DeRosa with a 57-yard touchdown pass on the first play of scrimmage, and Tyson Barron added the first of his three extra-point kicks to give the Rams a 7-0 lead 16 seconds into the contest.

But the rest of the half largely belonged to Messalonskee, though the Eagles were hurt by six penalties for 54 yards.

Fabian (6 of 11 passing, 143 yards) engineered a 92-yard drive to draw Messalonskee within 7-6 on a 1-yard quarterback keeper with 1:19 left in the opening quarter. Passes of 32 yards to Justin Mattos and 26 yards to Wayne Evans set up the score.

“We didn’t think they were going to go to the pass that early,” Hackett said. “I didn’t think that we had shown we could stop them running at the time they started throwing.”

Fabian then gave Messalonskee the lead with 4:20 left until intermission, intercepting a Brian Hackett pass and returning it 28 yards for a touchdown.

The Eagles threatened again before intermission, driving from their 30 inside the Bangor 20. Duffy’s longest run of the night, a 43-yard gain, set up Messalonskee at the Rams’ 18 with 13 seconds left, but a Fabian-to-Mattos pass went incomplete and a Duffy option past went awry as time expired.

“We dominated the first half, and then we came out and gave up the big play,” said Messalonskee coach Wes Littlefield. “We drove the field and had a chance to put it in right before halftime, and it could be a different story if we capitalized down near the end zone.

“They’re a good football team, but we’re not done yet.”

RAMS 21, EAGLES 14

Messalonskee (6-2) 6 8 0 0 – 14

Bangor (7-1) 7 0 7 7 – 21

B-DeRosa 57 pass from B. Hackett (Barron kick)

M-Fabian 1 run (rush failed)

M-Fabian 28 interception return (Duffy rush)

B-Payson 1 run (Barron kick)

B-Payson 2 run (Barron kick)

Messalonskee Bangor

First downs 11 13

Rushing att.-yards 40-166 42-213

Passing comp.-att. 6-12 3-9

Passing yards 143 57

Total yards 309 270

Punts-avg. 4-34.3 3.39.3

Fumbles-lost 1-0 0-0

Intercepted by 2 1

Penalties-yards 9-82 6-49

Rushing

Messalonskee: Duffy 24-123, Mattos 5-19, Cote 5-16, May 1-5, Fabian 5-3; Bangor: Payson 36-204, Dexter 4-6, B. Hackett 2-3

Passing

Messalonskee: Fabian 6-11-1-143, Duffy 0-1-0-0; Bangor: B. Hackett 3-9-2-57

Receiving

Messalonskee: Mattos 4-76, Merrill 1-41, Evans 1-26; Bangor: DeRosa 1-56, Payson 1-1, Vanidestine 1-0

A-1,300 (est.)