BANGOR – OK, so four key players from the 2004 Eastern Maine Class A champion Bangor High football team are off pursuing college football careers.

Two others are poised to play collegiate baseball, while another has graduated to junior hockey.

And the 1,500-yard rusher who was expected to return to lead this year’s team? He’s also opted to move to southern Maine and play junior hockey in anticipation of a Division I future in that sport. That leaves just four starters back on offense, and four back on defense.

But don’t feel sorry for the Rams. They don’t.

“We do have a young team, but we’ve got a lot of talented young guys who are ready to play,” said senior co-captain Mike McPike. “Obviously just like every year at Bangor the goal is to win every game and go as far as we can, but as long as we play as well as we can I’ll be happy.”

Bangor still has big numbers – 75 players are out from the sophomore, junior and senior classes – but the Rams will be a bit younger this fall as they blend a solid crop of seniors with juniors and sophomores who never tasted defeat at the freshman level.

“We need to mix well just like any other year,” McPike said. “We’ve got a lot of guys who individually are very good, but coming together we’ll be a real solid team.”

The Rams will offer a slightly different offensive look, with junior quarterback Alex Gallant expected to pressure defenses not only with the pass, but with the run. The 6-foot-3 Gallant was a starting defensive back a year ago who has limited varsity experience at quarterback, but plenty of big-game experience for the Rams.

Also the team’s punter, Gallant will be backed up at quarterback by sophomore Ian Edwards, a talented athlete with a strong football pedigree. His father, Mike Edwards, won the Fitzpatrick Trophy as the state’s top senior player back in 1974.

“We’ve got two guys who are ready to play right now,” said fifth-year head coach Mark Hackett. “Alex is the quarterback, and he is just such a great athlete, and Ian has played so well for us during preseason. It’s a great competition for them, they seem to be playing off each other.”

Bangor’s running game suffered a setback when Nick Payson decided over the summer to transfer to Thornton Academy in Saco and play for a junior hockey team based in southern Maine.

Instead, Hackett will begin the season with a running back-by-committee strategy involving seniors Ben Silver and Julien Collard-Seguin, juniors Matt Kelley and Jimmy Clukey, and sophomore Shane Walton.

“Someone will have 1,000 or 1,500 yards,” said Hackett. “Now whether that’s one or two or three guys doing that, I don’t know yet. But when we won the state championship [in 2001], we had five different fullbacks start a game.”

Powerful junior Ben Bambrick will step in at fullback, with sophomore Kyle Vanidestine at wingback and 6-foot-5 sophomore Ryan Weston – a transfer from Bangor Christian where he started on the basketball team as a freshman – at tight end and junior Tom Crews and sophomore Lee Suvlu at flanker.

“We’ve got some options on offense,” said Hackett. “We’ll run more option, bootleg and waggle, and we’ll use fullback, tailback and quarterback as runners. With the quarterback running, we’ve got an extra threat from what we’ve had the last few years.”

Those backs will work behind a rebuilt offensive front led by senior center Andy Gould, the lone returning starter along the line of scrimmage. Gould will be joined up front by junior tackles Adam Kearns and Robert Seccareccia, senior guard Jon Bolduc and junior guard Mark Sturgeon.

“I’m really optimistic,” said Gould, a co-captain. “We’ve got a real good group of guys who really know how to play.”

Kearns and Seccareccia will flank Bambrick at nose guard on the defensive front, with Weston, Collard-Seguin and juniors Jimmy Batchelder and Sean Flynn seeing time at the ends. McPike will play middle linebacker, with seniors Nathan Paulette and Chris Wilcox working outside.

Clukey and junior Bobby Gerimia will start at cornerback, with Vanidestine and Walton at the safeties.

One of Bangor’s biggest weapons will be on special teams, where first-team All-PTC place-kicker Tyson Barron returns for his senior season after kicking five field goals in 2004, including two in Rams’ 29-19 loss to Bonny Eagle of Standish in the state championship game. Barron also produced long kickoffs that led to a territorial advantage that served Bangor well throughout last season.

“You’ve got the kick game, the offense and defense, and you’ve got to win two of the three if you’re going to win the game,” Hackett said. “We’ll be hard-pressed to be beat in the kick game, and if we don’t it will be because we didn’t do our job as coaches.”

The PTC Class A ranks sport a different look this year, with three fewer teams – 11 instead of 14 – and one fewer round of playoffs. Just four teams from the division will qualify for postseason play. Young or not, Bangor expects to be in that mix.

“We’ve got a pretty good feel for this team,” said Hackett. “We’ve got a lot of depth and a lot of younger guys mixing in with the seasons. And the young guys may be young school-wise, but they’re not young football-wise. They can play.”

BANGOR RAMS

2004 results: 10-2 (Eastern Maine Class A champions)

Head coach: Mark Hackett, fifth year

Key players: Alex Gallant, QB-P, Jr.; Tyson Barron, PK-F, Sr.; Ben Bambrick, FB-NG, Jr.; Mike McPike, LB, Sr.; Andy Gould, C, Sr.; Ryan Weston, TE-DE, Soph.; Kyle Vanidestine, WB-S, Soph.; Robert Seccarecia, OT-DT, Jr.

Outlook: Bangor again will be in the mix for the Pine Tree Conference and Eastern Maine Class A championships by virtue of its depth of talent and athleticism. Good size along the line of scrimmage will benefit the likes of Gallant, who will challenge defenses with his legs and arm. Weston may develop into one of the league’s top tight ends sooner rather than later. Barron provides a special teams option few opponents can match, either by giving Bangor the option of going for a field goal from 45 yards in, or by pinning foes deep in their territory with deep and well-placed kickoffs.