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BANGOR – Bangor High’s recent run of success in schoolboy athletics has produced state titles in several sports.
But one obstacle the Rams haven’t overcome for the last two years is the Lawrence of Fairfield football team.
Lawrence has won its last four meetings against Bangor, including a 19-5 victory in the 2006 Eastern Maine Class A final and a 32-12 win during the 2007 regular season.
The defending state champion Bulldogs, 10-0 this season, will bring a 21-game win streak into their rematch against the 9-1 Rams in Friday night’s EM final at Keyes Field in Fairfield.
Bangor is 17-3 over the last two years, but 0-3 against Lawrence.
“They have so much confidence right now,” said Bangor senior quarterback and safety Ian Edwards. “Football’s such an emotional sport that they’re flying as high as they can right now emotionally coming into any game. If we can somehow stun them or just get on top of them early, then it will be to our advantage.”
Many of Bangor’s football players already own state championships in other sports. They would like to add an Eastern Maine title in football, something that has eluded the program since the current seniors were freshmen.
“You look around at the guys on the team, and a lot of them play baseball or basketball or track, so everyone knows what it takes to get there,” said senior tight end-defensive end Ryan Weston. “We all know it takes a lot of hard work, a lot of practice and a lot of determination, and I think that understanding will help in this week’s game.”
Bangor enters its sixth EM final in the last eight years riding a high of its own, having won seven straight since its Week 3 loss at Lawrence.
“People have been saying that we’ve been peaking, and I agree,” said Edwards.
Bangor’s success stems from several sources, including improvement along the line of scrimmage, more familiarity with its new wing-T offense and the switch of senior Kyle Vanidestine from fullback to tailback, where he has topped 1,000 rushing yards and teamed with Shane Walton to pace an offense that averages 43.3 points per game.
“I think the biggest thing is that we’ve moved Kyle to running back,” said Edwards. “He was the fullback against Lawrence before and they were able to take that away, but now having him as a second dimension in our backfield is probably the biggest difference from then until now.”
Lawrence counters with a top playmaker in senior QB Jack Hersom, who rushed and passed for more than 100 yards in its earlier win over Bangor. But the Bulldogs also have several other offensive weapons, including tailback Shawn Champagne and receiver Nick Nelson, and a defense that has allowed just 6.8 points per game and owns shutout playoff wins over Mt. Blue of Farmington and Skowhegan.
“[Bangor] Coach [Mark Hackett] said they’ve got the target on their back that we usually have on ours, so it’s kind of like a nothing-to-lose feeling going into this game,” said Edwards. “Still, we feel we need to win this game and that no one’s going to be happy unless we win this game. No one’s really the underdog. We’re two good teams that have had good contests in the past.”
The Bulldogs also possess an intangible the Rams must match in order to replace Lawrence atop the Eastern A ranks.
“They have great pride and they work hard on every play,” Edwards said. “They’ve had a great last couple of seasons. Hopefully we can disrupt that, but what they’ve done so far has been pretty great.”
That Lawrence pride and emotion is fed on game nights by a raucous crowd that surrounds Keyes Field.
“The atmosphere there is something special,” said Weston. “It’s not something you get to play in every day. That town just loves football so much, and we usually get a pretty good following coming down with us and the stands are so close it feels like the fans are in the game with us and it just makes for a special time.”
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