BANGOR – If the line of scrimmage is a determining factor in the success of a football team, as most experts suggest it is, then Bangor High enters the 2004 football season with a sizable advantage over its the 2004 Pine Tree Conference Class A adversaries.

Try an offensive and defensive front that averages 6-foot-4, 255 pounds.

In seniors Eric Anderson (5-11, 260), Kyle Oliver (6-3, 260), Jeremy Tyler (6-3, 280), and Andrew Trundy (6-8, 270), along with junior guards Jon Bolduc (5-10, 220) and Ben Bambrick (6-3, 220), the Rams boast a contingent of linemen with size most small colleges would envy.

“It’s as big a line as I’ve seen here,” said fourth-year Rams head coach Mark Hackett. “But they’ll be tested, because people are going to be coming at us every down.”

But big only goes so far, which is why members of this unit have worked to develop their athleticism. All play other sports – Anderson and Trundy, for instance, were contributing members of the school’s varsity basketball team last winter.

“Playing the other sports keeps us in shape, and that helps when it comes to this,” said Anderson, who also plays on the Bangor baseball team. “But we play as a team first, and the individual comes second.”

“A lot of them will go two ways, so a big question will be whether they can do that for a full game week after week,” Hackett added. “We need them to do that.”

When not playing football or other sports, considerable time has been devoted to a variety of drills designed to improve quickness, agility, and foot speed.

“It’s not just a matter of being big,” Hackett said. “For us to be really good, the line has to be able to pull and they have to trap well. Those kinds of things will help determine how good this team can be.”

“We just are working hard to play the best we can play,” added Trundy.

There’s also an element of familiarity in evidence, particularly among the four seniors in the trenches who have played together since their junior high days.

“The cool thing about it is that all of us know each other well, we hang out together, so we know what each other is going to do,” said Oliver.

Offensively, Bangor’s line will endeavor to protect and advance a deep corps of backs and receivers that will try to compensate for the graduation of 2,000-yard tailback Mike Prentiss. Senior Aaron Gallant and junior Nick Payson will play tailback, while senior Ricky Dexter and junior Mike McPike will play fullback.

“We don’t have anyone with Mike’s speed, but we’ve got some good, instinctive running backs who are tough kids,” said Hackett. “There are going to be holes. Our backs have to find the holes, but they will be there.”

Brian Hackett, a senior, steps in as the starting quarterback. Senior Anthony DeRosa is a returning starter at split end, while senior tight end Paul Russell and senior wideout T.J. Vanidestine are other receiving threats.

Defensively, Bangor’s five-man front will seek to occupy opposing offensive lines and protect linebackers Dexter and McPike so they can make the bulk of the tackles, along with a secondary that includes Gallant and Vanidestine at cornerback and Payson at strong safety, where he earned All-Pine Tree Conference second-team honors a year ago.

“If the tackle is there up front, we’ll take it, but we need the defensive line to tie up the offensive line,” said Mark Hackett. “If our linebackers or safeties aren’t making a lot of the tackles, we aren’t running the defense right.”

BANGOR RAMS

2003 results: 9-2, lost in EM Class A final

Head coach: Mark Hackett, 4th year

Key players: Eric Anderson, C-NG, Sr.; Anthony DeRosa, SE, Sr.; Ricky Dexter, FB-LB, Sr.; Aaron Gallant, TB-CB, Sr.; Brian Hackett, QB, Sr.; Kyle Oliver, OT-DT, Sr.; Paul Russell, TE, Sr.; Jeremy Tyler, OG-DT, Sr.; Andrew Trundy, OT-DT, Sr.; T.J. Vanidestine, WR-CB-P, Sr.; Jon Bolduc, OG, Jr.; Mike McPike, FB-LB, Jr.; Nick Payson, TB-SS, Jr.; Ben Bambrick, OG, Soph.

Outlook: While Bangor returns just four full-time starters on each side of the ball, the Rams figure to be among the best teams in Class A statewide. An imposing offensive and defensive line should power Bangor’s rushing attack while forcing opposing offenses outside, where the Rams have a number of athletic playmakers. Mike Prentiss, a 2,000-yard rusher, has graduated, but in Aaron Gallant and Nick Payson, Bangor has a tailback tandem capable of making the most of the holes the line provides.