BANGOR – The last thing the Messalonskee football team needed Friday night was to fall behind early to Bangor. But that’s exactly what happened as the Rams’ Mike Prentiss took the opening kickoff and raced 69 yards for a touchdown.

From there the Rams rolled up almost 400 yards in offense while holding the Eagles of Oakland to just 82 yards en route to a 48-6 homecoming win at Cameron Stadium. The Rams close out the regular season at 6-2 while Messalonskee fell to 1-7.

Prentiss was just getting started with the kickoff return. With the Rams leading 35-0 in the third quarter, Prentiss collected a punt, burst through a hole to the left sideline and ran 44 yards for another touchdown.

The junior sandwiched the returns with a 20-yard pass reception for a score in the first quarter.

“I haven’t had many of those,” Prentiss said of his kickoff return. “Everybody though, the offense and defensive lines are really playing well.”

Prentiss wasn’t the only story of the night. The Rams’ coaching staff was forced into doing what they had been wanting to do all along when Ryan Largay went down with an ankle injury in the first quarter. – give Tyler Heber a chance to run the ball. Largay’s injury is believed to be minor.

“We intended on doing that game after game. Finally tonight he got the chance to do it,” Bangor coach Mark Hackett said.

And Heber responded. The diminutive junior carried the ball 13 times, using his quickness to the holes to run for 94 yards and a touchdown.

“I just had to fill in for [Largay]. The offensive line, they did it all,” Heber said.

Senior fullback John Huhn didn’t get his hands on the ball very often but he made the most of his five opportunities by scoring two short yardage touchdowns. And junior Dave Berry scored on a 3-yard run late in the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile, senior Zak Ray played a steady game on both sides of the ball. Offensively, Ray completed 10 of 17 passes for 153 yards and a touchdown. He also carried the ball five times for 31 yards. Defensively, Ray came up from his safety position twice to dish out heavy hits on wide receivers.

And after starting out 0-2, the defending Class A state champions have put together six-straight wins going into next week’s first round of the Pine Tree Conference playoffs.

“I think they just have a lot of pride. Their pride was wounded in those first two games this year. We’re the defending state champs. This is a great football team,” Hackett said. “I mean there’s a lot of good teams and anyone could beat us. But 17 of these kids played and started on that team last year… I wouldn’t want to be playing us.”

Senior Mike Pierce provided Messalonskee fans with a moment to remember with an 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

“It was tough to get down right away against a team like that,” Messaloskee coach John Hersom said. “But I’m proud that our kids haven’t quit all year. That’s been the character of our team all along. We’ve had some tough losses.”

RAMS 48, EAGLES 6

Messalonskee (1-6) 0 0 0 6 ? 6

Bangor (6-2) 14 7 7 20 ? 48

B ? Prentiss 69 kickoff return (kick failed)

B ? Prentiss 20 pass from Ray (Heber run)

B ? Huhn 2 run (Achorn kick)

B ? Huhn 8 run (Achorn kick)

B ? Heber 2 run (Achorn kick)

B ? Prentiss 44 punt return (Achorn kick)

M ? Pierce 85 kickoff return (kick failed)

B ? Berry 3 run (kick failed)

Messalonskee Bangor

First downs 4 17

Rushing att.-yards 27-39 47-220

Passing comp.-att. 3-8 10-19

Passing yards 43 153

Total yards 82 373

Punts-avg. 7-28.1 3-34.3

Fumbles-lost 4-2 2-1

Intercepted by 1 1

Penalties-yards 3-15 8-71

Rushing

Messalonskee: Pierce 8-26, Duffy 5-11, Mattos 1-5, Tondreau 2-5, Cote 1-3, Collier 1-1, Richards 2-0, Workman 7-(-12); Bangor: Heber 14-92, Gallant 8-62, Ray 5-31, Huhn 5-20, Flynn 3-8, Largay 2-8, Berry 2-6, Ingraham 2-3, Cassidy 1-1, Sullivan 2-(-11)

Passing

Messalonskee: Workman 3-8-1-43, Collier 0-1-0-0; Bangor: Ray 10-17-0-153, Sullivan 0-1-0, Prentiss 0-1-1-0

Receiving

Messalonskee: Hutchinson 1-0, Hross 1-9, Stevens 1-34; Bangor: Prentiss 7-109, Flynn 1-29, Day 1-9, Dowe 1-6

A ? 600 (est.)