Walton helps Bangor shut down Brunswick

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BANGOR – The Bangor High football team was quite receptive to Brunswick’s wide-open passing game Friday night.

Especially Shane Walton, who intercepted three passes in the third quarter alone and returned one 100 yards for a touchdown as the Rams pulled away after intermission for a 45-0 victory at Cameron Stadium.

Bangor had five interceptions overall, four in the third quarter as the Rams broke open what had been a bruising 13-0 battle through intermission.

“We worked all week on pass defense,” said Walton. “We knew what they were going to run, and that’s what a week of practice against it will do.”

The 2-0 Rams – who visit defending state champion Lawrence of Fairfield next Friday night in a rematch of the 2006 Eastern Maine Class A final – routinely had seven defenders focus on stopping Brunswick’s passing game. That left interior linemen Chris Devereaux, Jory Tracy and Sam Martin and linebacker Tyler McDade dedicated more toward stopping the run.

Brunswick (0-2) was unable to capitalize, averaging just 3.2 yards per run, and that enabled Bangor to remain aggressive against the pass.

McDade and defensive end Renaud Collard-Seguin joined Walton in the interception parade, while Walton, Kyle Vanidestine and Ian Edwards led a hard-hitting secondary.

“We worked so hard all week on pass coverage, I was hoping we weren’t going to forget to tackle and we weren’t going to forget to be aggressive,” said Bangor coach Mark Hackett. “I was so impressed with how we tackled and stayed aggressive. We’re ahead of where I thought we were defensively.”

Bangor complemented its defense with 330 yards of total offense, including 277 yards on the ground. Walton led the way with 80 yards on 14 tries, while backup Lonnie Hackett added 69 yards and two touchdowns on four fourth-quarter carries.

“We played well on offense,” said McDade, a starting guard on the offensive line. “They had a high-tempo defense and were pretty physical, but the line did a good job and the backs did a good job of reading the blocks.”

Bangor ultimately capitalized on Brunswick mistakes to break the game open.

Walton intercepted an overthrown pass by Robbie Basquez (7 of 15, 5 INT) on Brunswick’s first series of the second half and returned it 35 yards to the Dragons’ 18.

Bangor set up for a field-goal try on fourth-and-9 from the 17, but a running-into-the-kicker penalty and an offsides penalty on back-to-back snaps gave the Rams first and goal at the 7. Edwards then ran a quarterback keeper in for a touchdown to give Bangor a 19-0 lead with 9:12 left in the third quarter.

Walton and Collard-Seguin had interceptions on Brunswick’s next two possession, with Collard-Seguin’s pick setting Bangor up at the Brunswick 32.

On second down from the 29, Walton ran a counter play wide right to the end zone to extend the margin to 25-0.

Brunswick drove from its 30 to the Bangor 27 before Walton turned defense into sudden offense. Basquez floated a pass to the goal line that the senior back grabbed and then raced from endzone to endzone with 21.4 seconds left in the period.

“I was just playing deep,” said Walton of the interception and 100-yard return. “I was ready for anything in front of me, and I was just reading the quarterback. Then I just ran down the field, and I got some good blocking from my teammates.”

Bangor took a 7-0 lead on its second possession of the game, marching 52 yards after McDade had an interception near midfield to score on a 3-yard run by Vanidestine on fourth-and-goal with 5:03 left in the opening quarter.

A 21-yard pass over the middle from Edwards to Weston set the Rams up inside the Brunswick 10 as the first quarter ended, but the Dragons stopped Vanidestine on fourth-and-goal from the 1 to end the threat.

But the Rams persevered, marching 71 yards for a second-quarter touchdown. That same Edwards-to Weston connection again was wide open over the middle, this time for the final 16 yards to give Bangor a 13-0 advantage.

RAMS 45, DRAGONS 0

Brunswick (0-2) 0 0 0 0 – 0

Bangor (2-0) 7 6 20 12 – 45

Scoring summary goes next

Ban-Vanidestine 3 run (Vanidestine kick)

Ban-Weston 16 pass from Edwards (kick failed)

Ban-Edwards 7 run (pass failed)

Ban-Walton 29 run (Edwards rush)

Ban-Walton 100 interception return (rush failed)

Ban-Lo. Hackett 17 run (kick blocked)

Ban-Lo. Hackett 5 run (kick blocked)

Brunswick Bangor

First downs 14 12

Rushing att.-yards 33-105 43-277

Passing comp.-att. 12-22 3-9

Passing yards 178 53

Total yards 283 330

Punts-avg. 2-26.5 1-48.0

Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0

Intercepted by 1 5

Penalties-yards 7-51 3-15

Rushing

Brunswick: Basquez 10-62, Tanner 6-45, Miller 5-14, Jensen 7-10, Williams 1-4, Wardwell 1-(minus-1), Stewart 1-(minus-1), Caputi 1-(minus-3), Guerrette 1-(minus-25); Bangor: Walton 14-80, Lo. Hackett 4-69, Pembroke 2-40, Lewis 2-27, Vanidestine 11-23, Edwards 3-18, Billings 3-9, Weston 1-6, Duff 3-5

Passing

Passing stats listed: comp.-att.-int.-yds.

Brunswick: Basquez 7-15-5-105, Thompson 3-4-0-40, Jensen 2-3-0-33; Bangor: Edwards 3-9-1-53

Receiving

Brunswick: Breisacher 3-71, Edgerton 2-33, Miller 2-13, Scully 2-11, Easter 1-31, Blake 1-20, Williams 1-(minus-1); Bangor: Weston 2-37, Walton 1-16

A-900 (est.)