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BANGOR – When your opponent runs 82 plays, rolls up 438 yards of total offense and has the ball for 32 of the game’s 48 minutes, it’s not usually a good sign.
Those impressive numbers put up by Lewiston High don’t even begin to tell the story of Bangor’s offensive dominance Friday night.
Running through huge holes, senior halfback Shane Walton carried 18 times for 205 yards and scored four touchdowns as second-seeded Bangor cruised to a 56-35 Pine Tree Conference Class A semifinal victory over No. 3 Lewiston at chilly Cameron Stadium.
Coach Mark Hackett’s 9-1 Rams play for the Eastern Maine championship Friday night at No. 1 Lawrence (10-0) in a rematch of the 2006 title game.
“We knew we had to come out with a lot of momentum in the first half,” Walton said. “The line played great, opened up big holes for the backs. The backs found the holes and got in the end zone. Everything just came together well tonight.”
Bangor’s versatile offense, based out of the wing-T, was virtually unstoppable. Not counting taking a knee on the last play of the first half, the Rams scored on eight of their first nine possessions.
Their average scoring drive was four plays, covered 46 yards and lasted 1 minute, 22 yards.
“You can’t ask for better offense,” said Rams halfback Kyle Vanidestine, who netted 105 yards and a TD on 11 carries. “We were scoring on like two plays every possession.”
The offensive line was superb. Tackles Sam Martin and Andrew Riley, guards Jory Tracy and Tyler McDade, center Stephen Schley and tight end Ryan Weston consistently gashed the Lewiston defense and let Walton and Vanidestine do the rest.
“We came out here, wanted to open seams for our running backs and block for our quarterback on the line,” McDade said. “We did our job.”
Walton also had a 62-yard kickoff return, a 47-yard interception return and an 18-yard punt return. He amassed 332 all-purpose yards.
Vanidestine also had an interception.
“We like the determination of our backs and the blocking of the line,” Hackett said. “They have some tenacity. They’re just determined guys,” he said of Walton and Vanidestine.
Bangor set the tone on the fourth play of the game when Walton burst through a gaping hole on the left side and raced untouched 56 yards for a score.
The Blue Devils responded with a methodical 17-play, 87-yard scoring march, one that consumed 8:17. Wesley Myers’ 5-yard run tied it 7-7.
Bangor answered with a nine-play drive, its longest of the night. Walton’s 5-yard TD run at 11:25 of the second quarter gave the Rams the lead for good at 14-7.
As Bangor’s defense settled down a bit and halted Lewiston three consecutive times, the offense continued to dominate. Vanidestine raced 42 yards on a counter crisscross play to the right side to make it 20-7.
The Rams’ next possession ended on downs, but they later stuffed a fake punt at the Lewiston 34. Walton scored from the 6 three plays later to push the lead to 28-7 with 1:05 left in the first half.
The Blue Devils opened the second half with a 61-yard TD march to get within 28-14, but the quick-striking Rams kept on clicking.
Bangor scored on the second play of its next possession on Walton’s 55-yard burst.
Shortly thereafter, Walton’s interception return set up a 30-yard timing toss from quarterback Ian Edwards to Tyler Pembroke on the very next play, pushing the advantage to 42-14 late in the third quarter.
Bangor ran only three plays from scrimmage in the quarter, then scored on two of nine fourth-quarter plays.
Lewiston found its success through the air. Myers rushed for 78 yards and caught eight passes for 156 yards.
Quarterback Mason Giroux completed 24 of 37 passes for 281 yards and a score. He also ran for three TDs.
“We worked [against] run hard all week and then we came out and we had to play multiple pass defenses,” Hackett said. “We weren’t very good at it, but they’re good at what they do.”
McDade led the Rams’ defense with 15 tackles, while Renaud Collard-Seguin and Walton were in on 11 hits each.
The Rams know they’ll need a better defensive effort if they hope to beat Lawrence.
“Unconsciously, we played a little too soft tonight,” Vanidestine said. “Our defense has got to come up huge next week.”
RAMS 56, BLUE DEVILS 35
Lewiston 7 0 14 14 – 35
Bangor 7 21 14 14 – 56
B – Walton 56 run (Vanidestine kick)
L – Myers 1 run (Gagnon kick)
B – Walton 5 run (Vanidestine kick)
B – Vanidestine 42 run (rush failed)
B – Walton 6 run (Vanidestine kick)
L – Giroux 2 run (Gagnon kick)
B – Walton 55 run (Vanidestine kick)
B – Pembroke 30 pass from Edwards (Vanidestine kick)
L – Giroux 1 run (Gagnon kick)
B – Billings 2 run (Vanidestine kick)
L – Giroux 7 run (Gagnon kick)
B – Weston 33 pass from Edwards (Lawson kick)
L – Brooks 7 pass from Giroux (Gagnon kick)
Lewiston Bangor
First downs 24 14
Rushing att.-yards 45-157 39-333
Passing comp.-att. 24-38 2-4
Passing yards 281 63
Total yards 438 396
Punts-avg. 2-21.0 0-0
Fumbles-lost 3-1 1-1
Intercepted by 0 2
Penalties-yards 1-5 2-20
Rushing
Lewiston: Myers 19-78, Letourneau 15-46, Giroux 10-29, Brooks 1-4; Bangor: Walton 18-205, Vanidestine 11-105, Edwards 4-14, Billings 3-14, Hackett 1-(minus-1), Team 2-(minus-4)
Passing
Lewiston: Giroux 24-37-2-281, Brooks 0-1-0-0; Bangor: Edwards 2-4-0-63
Receiving
Lewiston: Myers 8-156, Brooks 10-105, Faletra 3-19, Letourneau 3-1; Bangor: Weston 1-33, Pembroke 1-30
A-600 (est.)
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