Rams, Indians seek PTC title Bangor looks to avenge regular-season setback to Skowhegan

BANGOR – Neither Bangor nor Skowhegan earned the respect of the Crabtree point ratings during the 2004 football season.

Said ratings determined Bangor was the fifth-best team in the Pine Tree Conference Class A ranks, while Skowhegan was merely seventh-best.

But the playoffs have proven otherwise, leaving the Rams and Indians as sole survivors among PTC teams chasing a state championship.

That chase continues at 7 tonight, when 9-1 Bangor hosts 5-5 Skowhegan in the Eastern Maine Class A final at Cameron Stadium.

“I’m glad we’re playing Skowhegan and I’m glad we’re playing at home,” said Bangor coach Mark Hackett. “I think it’s the best two teams that are left.”

These teams met during Week 4, with a result as startling as any high school game played in Maine this fall.

Skowhegan dominated Bangor 44-8, giving the Indians a huge dose of confidence and sending the Rams back to regroup.

“That loss was good for us,” said Hackett. “We did play Mt. Blue the week before but we really hadn’t played tough, hard-nosed football until we got our hats handed to us, and then we decided we didn’t like that and we started playing up front.”

And regroup the Rams did, to the point that Bangor has ripped off six straight wins and comes into the EM final off perhaps its best performance of the season in a 39-14 dismantling of No. 1 Gardiner last Friday.

“We’ve gotten a lot better,” said Hackett. “We’ve peaked at the right time. I’m very happy with us and I like our chances. I know we’re going to play good, hard-nosed football, and if we get beat we’ll shake their hands and they’ll be the better team going on, but they’re going to have to play pretty hard to beat us.”

Skowhegan also is peaking at the right time under the guidance of Mike Marston, a veteran central Maine high school coach in his first year as the Indians’ head man.

The Indians had no returning starters as this season began, but a run-oriented offense featuring junior Aaron Chambers (1,367 rushing yards, 16 touchdowns) and senior Jason Lisherness (619 yards, six touchdowns) and an improving defense has landed Skowhegan in the EM final for the first time since 2001.

In that game, Skowhegan jumped out to a 21-7 halftime lead only to have Bangor score 35 fourth-quarter points to pull out a 49-21 victory en route to the state championship.

But that was three years ago.

“Our kids certainly have performed beyond belief this year,” said Marston. “We only have about 35 kids, and we’re not that big and not overly skilled, but the kids have worked hard.”

At no time was that more in evidence than when Chambers and Lisherness riddled Bangor’s defense for 397 rushing yards and six TDs during this year’s regular-season meeting.

“They’re a very good football team,” said Hackett of the 2004 Indians. “They’re as good or better than any team we’ve played, and I think they have the best player in the league [Chambers]. The other guys aren’t bad, either, but I think they have the best player in the league, and usually the teams with the best players in the league win, and that’s why they’re still playing.”

Turnovers were a problem for the Indians at times during the regular season, but not so during their playoff run. In a 42-20 win at Windham and a 20-0 shutout of Mt. Blue at Farmington last Friday, Skowhegan has committed zero turnovers.

“Holding onto the football has been a key for us, and we’ve worked hard on defense and strengthened our special teams,” said Marston.

Bangor similarly relies on its ground game for the bulk of its offense. Junior tailback Nick Payson has emerged as one of the conference’s top rushers, gaining 280 yards on 37 carries and scoring five TDs against Gardiner.

“We’ve put a couple of games here together during this stretch where we’ve blocked really well,” Hackett said “I think it’s toughness or determination, or kids just wanting to keep playing. I don’t know what makes teams go to that point. Our coaching style hasn’t changed, so it’s the players.”

After splitting time at tailback early in the season, Payson now has 1,384 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns.

“Payson is a hard runner,” said Marston. “He rarely goes down with one hit, and never the first time he’s hit.”

Senior quarterback Brian Hackett (46 of 91 passing, 619 yards) has provided steady leadership for the Rams, with Anthony DeRosa (25 catches, 414 yards) a top receiving threat, having scored Bangor’s only TD in its earlier meeting with Skowhegan on a 73-yard pass play down the right sideline.

“Bangor is a well-coached team and always has been,” said Marston. “They’re very big, very physical and a very sound football team. Every team in the league knows that year in and year out that to win you’re going to have to go through Bangor.”