The Bangor High School Rams gave the Skowhegan High School River Hawks a wake-up call by scoring the game’s first touchdown.
The River Hawks got the message loud and clear and responded by scoring the game’s final 47 points to post a 47-7 win at Cameron Stadium on Friday night.
Skowhegan, which went 5-5 a year ago including a 7-6 loss to eventual Class B North champion Windham in the semifinals 7-6, is now 4-0.
The River Hawks have now won nine of their last 11 games dating back to last season.
Class A Bangor fell to 0-4.
The River Hawks dominated every facet of the game against the youthful Rams after the first quarter.
Junior quarterback Brenden Dunlap, filling in for the injured Adam Savage, had a terrific game as he ran for two touchdowns and threw for two more.
He completed 12 of 18 passes for 194 yards and he also rushed for 75 yards on nine carries.
Powerful senior running back Hunter McEwen scored on touchdown runs of two and 21 yards and senior wide receiver Tyler Annis scampered 34 yards for a TD.
Bangor quarterback Jack Schuck tossed a 12-yard touchdown pass to Connor Boone to open the scoring after they had hooked up on a 22-yard completion on the previous plays.
That followed Skowhegan’s second lost fumble of the quarter.
“After a couple of fumbles and a couple of things, we decided we were being too cutesy so we kept it north and south and turned the game around,” said Skowhegan coach Ryan Libby.
“Brenden Dunlap and Hunter McEwen are tough, hard-nosed kids, and when you put the ball in their hands, they know what to do with it,” added Libby. “The sweep play with Quintcey McCray kept us balanced.
Dunlap said they “definitely turned it on in the second half. We got more focused.”
Skowhegan answered Bangor’s touchdown with a seven-play, 71-yard drive capped by Dunlap’s 15-yard TD run.
The LePage triplets, Collin and Kyle, threw Schuck for a one-yard loss on third-and-four on the next Ram drive and the River Hawks took the punt and marched 74 yards to take the lead for good on McEwen’s two-yard run with 2:51 left in the half.
The LePages controlled both sides of the line of scrimmage from their tackle spots on offense and end slots on defense.
Bangor picked up one first down on its next drive but had to punt, and it took Skowhegan just four plays to punch it into the end zone on a 21-yard pass from Dunlap to an open McCray in the corner of the end zone.
In the second half, Dunlap scored on a seven-yard run, Annis followed with his 34-yard run, McEwen rattled off his 21-yarder and Dunlap passed to a wide open McCray for a 45-yard TD.
McEwen carried the ball eight times for 43 yards but caught four passes for 77 more. Annis had three catches for 53 yards and carried the ball five times for 55 yards.
McEwen was also a defensive standout from his linebacker spot.
Parker Small ran for 55 yards on eight carries for Bangor. Safety Xavier Pike turned in an exceptional performance on defense as did linebacker Ty Walker and tackle and captain Austin Lozano.
Pivotal play: Dunlap’s TD pass to McCray with 40.3 seconds left in the half gave the River Hawks some valuable breathing room at the half at 20-7 and they took the opening second half kickoff and scored to all but sew up the win.
Takeaway: Skowhegan is an exceptional football team. Both lines are dominant thanks to the LePage triplets and Dunlap is a dual threat at quarterback with the hard-running McEwen breaking tackles and churning up inside yards and McCray and Annis being dangerous on sweeps. Bangor continues to develop with its inexperienced group although it doesn’t show on the scoreboard.
Up next: Skowhegan will host Gardiner on Friday night at 7 while Bangor visits defending Class A state champ Thornton Academy in Saco on Saturday, Oct. 1 at 1:30 p.m.
