The words that officials at Bangor television station WABI (Channel 5) have been aching to say for the past 36 hours can now be uttered: The game is on.

And not only in the Greater Bangor market, but statewide. “The game” is Saturday afternoon’s NCAA Division I-AA quarterfinal playoff football game between the University of Maine and Northern Iowa and it will be on WABI, Presque Isle’s WAGM (Ch. 8) and Portland’s WMTW (Ch. 8) at 2:30 p.m.

“I’m excited. It’s been an up and down 36 hours and quite a roller coaster the last two days,” said WABI program director Steve Hiltz. “It took awhile. And I’ll be honest, there was a point today when we thought we might not be able to do it because of material and cost, but as we went along and worked on it, we were able to cut some costs and get help from the other stations.

“It’s still going to be very tight, but we’re trying to sell as many ads as we can and we’ll see how we make out.”

The major sticking point for WABI was finding the material and crew to do the game. Congress Square Productions in Portland helped WABI by tracking down a satellite relay truck, production truck and 18 people to air the game. In addition, WABI will be sending reporter Jon Small to do play-by-play, former UMaine coach and athletic director Walt Abbott to do color commentary, and sports director Tim Throckmorton to do sideline reports.

With two regulars gone and WABI already committed to broadcasting both Friday’s and Saturday’s 7 p.m. UMaine hockey games, there won’t be any down time for anyone working at 35 Hildreth Street in Bangor.

“Everybody here is working, including me, on Friday and Saturday,” said Hiltz, who will be doing his work at the station.

How, where, and in what capacity everyone else will be working will be determined at an eight-hour production meeting on Wednesday.

“We’re not even sure exactly how we’re going to do all this, but that’s what we’ll be ironing out tomorrow,” Hiltz said.

The interest from WAGM and WMTW helps WABI tremendously in both coverage and defraying the high cost of airing the game. Satellite time alone costs approximately $700 per hour. But even if no other station wanted to take the signal, WABI was prepared to go it alone.

“We might have had to bite the bullet if no one else was going to sign on with us,” Hiltz admitted.

The NCAA notified WABI late Tuesday afternoon that its bid to broadcast the game had been accepted and station officials were just waiting for the paperwork to be faxed to them. WABI was the only Maine station to submit a bid.

In another example of WABI’s cooperative effort with other stations, the live CBS telecast of the Southeastern Conference championship football game between the University of Tennessee and Louisiana State University at 8 p.m. is shifting from WABI to Bangor station WBGR (Channel 33, channel 9 on Adelphia cable). WBGR has already aired 11 SEC broadcasts from CBS this season.

Quest of the quietman

New England Sports Network will broadcast Quiet Man’s Quest: The Johnny Ruiz Story on Sunday at 9 p.m. The one-hour special, which will air immediately after a men’s basketball broadcast, tells the story of John “The Quiet Man” Ruiz, who rose from the streets of Chelsea, Mass., to become the first Hispanic heavyweight champ by beating Evander Holyfield in a WBA Championship bout.

Andrew Neff can be reached at 990-8205 or at aneff@bangordailynews.net.