BANGOR – Before Friday night’s Pine Tree Conference semifinal game began, Bangor defensive end Justin Hinton delivered these motivational words to his teammates in the locker room: “From the first tick of the tock to the last tick of the clock.”

The phrase was designed to drive home the point the Rams would need to play inspired and all-out football for all 48 minutes to get by Lewiston on an unseasonably warm, comfortable night at Cameron Stadium.

The Rams did just that as they outmuscled, outgained, and simply outlasted a tough Blue Devils squad in another physical test of endurance between the two teams. The end result was a 13-6 victory that sends 10-0 Bangor to its fifth appearance in the PTC final in the last seven years.

Lewiston finishes the year 6-4. Bangor will host Skowhegan for the PTC title in a game which will likely be played Friday night.

The difference-makers for Bangor were defensive end Justin Hinton and fullback D.J. Johnson.

Hinton played like a man possessed as he registered three sacks in addition to causing and recovering a fumble. Of his eight solo tackles, seven went for lost yardage. The soft-spoken senior had a matter-of-factly explanation for being around the ball all night.

“I think it was just luck that they ran to my side,” he said while gasping to get air into his maxed-out lungs after the game. “Then again, they should. They’re pretty tough guys over there. Luckily I was up for it.”

The guy on the other side was left book-end Steve Fergerson, who also played solidly.

“If the ends didn’t play big, we weren’t gonna win this game,” said Rams coach Mark Hackett. “We schooled them all week in that their play was going to win it for us or not win it for us.”

Johnson, playing in just his second game since slightly tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee during week four, showed no signs of rust as he helped soften up the Lewiston defensive line while delivering some devastating blocks to free up tailback Buddy Nickerson, who finished with 112 yards on 24 carries.

“It felt good coming back. The line played their hearts out and really stepped it up,” said Johnson, who gained 29 yards on 11 carries behind center Ben Guerette, tackles Corey Mayhew and Conor Stephens, guards J.J. Jackson and Trevor LaGrange, and ends Derrick Shain and Mike Prentiss. “I just wanted to do whatever I could … blocking, running, whatever we needed. We knew it was gonna be a fight.”

Not much separated the teams as Bangor finished with 194 yards to outgain the Blue Devils by 39. Both teams were even in first downs (10 apiece), penalties (six), and turnovers (one). The difference was Bangor was able to turn Lewiston’s lone turnover into a score. It proved to be the difference in the game.

That turnover came when Hinton rode down Devils quarterback Brent Dube for a three-yard loss with 4:29 left in the first half. On the way to the turf, Hinton simply wrested the ball right out of Dube’s hands and the Rams had a first down at Lewiston’s 31-yard line.

Johnson took the next three carries for 11 yards. After a one-yard loss on a counter play, Nickerson took the handoff three straight times to plow ahead for 21 total yards and a touchdown. Nick Achorn’s point-after kick made it 7-0 with 1:08 left in the half.

Bangor added its only other score on its first possession of the second half. After forcing the Devils to punt on their opening series, Prentiss returned the punt 26 yards to the B-47. Nine plays and 41/2 minutes later, Johnson bull-rushed his way up the middle for a four-yard TD run with 5:12 left in the third.

The Devils came back on their next possession with a 10-play, 80-yard drive capped by tailback Brandon Kyajohnian’s three-yard TD dash through the middle with 1:05 left in the third.

From then on, neither team could penetrate the other’s territory as the defenses stiffened.

“Both teams defensively played a great football game. I think they thought maybe they could throw the ball on us a little bit, but our corners played extremely well,” said Devils coach Bill County. “We’re very similar. I just think they had a little more consistency in the run game than we did.”

That consistency really counted when the Rams got the ball back after forcing Lewiston to punt with 2:44 left to play. The Rams took over on their own 16, and put on a ball control clinic as Nickerson took six of seven carries for 32 yards as Bangor ran out the clock.

“I’m really proud of the way our kids came out and played physical ball,” County said. “We made Bangor play our game, but they play it pretty well.”

Rams 13, Blue Devils 6

Lewiston (6-4) 0 0 6 0 ? 6

Bangor (10-0) 0 7 6 0?13

B ? Nickerson 5 run (Achorn kick)

B ? Johnson 4 run (kick failed)

L ? Kyajohnian 3 run (kick failed)

Lewiston Bangor

First downs 10 10

Rushing att.-yards 43-142 42-166

Passing comp.-att. 2-6 4-9

Passing yards 13 28

Total yards 155 194

Punts-avg. 6-35.2 4-25.3

Fumbles-lost 3-1 0-0

Intercepted by 1 0

Penalties-yards 6-72 6-55

Rushing

Lewiston: Kyajohnian 21-78, Dube 15-59, Harriman 3-4, Cyr 3-2, Foley 1-(-1); Bangor: Nickerson 24-112, Johnson 11-29, Bombardier 5-23, Flynn 1-3, Schmersal 1-(-1)

Passing

Lewiston: Dube 2-6-0-13; Bangor: Bombardier 4-9-1-28

Receiving

Lewiston: Jalbert 2-13; Bangor: Hinton 2-14, Prentiss 1-12, Shain 1-2

A? 500 (est.)