BANGOR, Maine — They are called preseason games for a reason, for statistically they matter not in the grand scheme of the championship pursuit.
But for high school football teams around Maine eager for the start of the regular season just one week away, exhibition games can be a tone-setter, a reinforcement of yet-to-be-proven confidence or a harsh reminder of the challenges ahead.
The resumption of the Bangor-Brewer football rivalry for the first time since 2010 proved stark examples of both ends of that spectrum, with Brewer’s 22-8 victory at Cameron Stadium on Friday night sending the Class B Witches into its next week’s first countable contest against Nokomis of Newport in a formidable frame of mind after a satisfying performance.
“We’ve been looking forward to this, and the coaches have been telling us it’s just a practice game, it’s just a practice game, but it meant a lot to us,” said Brewer senior quarterback Logan Rogerson.
Brewer, which was coming off a similarly impressive effort during a controlled scrimmage against Lawrence of Fairfield earlier in the week, controlled play along both sides of the line of scrimmage against their cross-river rivals, who began the night with a 75-20-8 lead in the series between the schools since their inaugural game in 1903. Brewer’s last win over Bangor was in 1991, 22-7.
“The main thing was to come out of it with no injuries and an idea of what we’re going to be like for the rest of the season,” said second-year Brewer head coach Nick Arthers. “I was very happy with how we played today, we found out a lot about ourselves. We got tough when we needed to at times, but there were also times when we slacked off so we learned that we’ve still got a ways to go.”
Where Brewer enters this season is as a physical, balanced team that ran the ball effectively against Bangor while yielding few open spaces for Rams’ star tailback Dane Johnson.
Dylan Severance, one of just eight seniors on the Witches’ roster, led the way with 154 yards on 22 carries, including a 60-yard burst midway through the second quarter that produced the only touchdown of the first half.
“We were running all night and there were little gaps and that one just sprung open,” said Severance. “The line was doing a good job, they made a huge hole and I took off.”
Severance added a 1-yard scoring run late in the third quarter before Rogerson intercepted a pass off the hands of Bangor receiver Ethan Dorman and returned it 55 yards to the end zone 64 seconds later to make it 22-0.
“(Dorman) was running a slant and I think (linebacker) Tyler Friel hit him and he just lost the ball and I caught it and jogged into the end zone.” said Rogerson.
Senior Danny Davis added successful two-point conversion runs on each of Brewer’s last two touchdowns.
“We wanted to really just realize the energy and the amount of effort we have to put forward in a real game against people in opposite-colored jerseys,” said Davis. “It’s different in a game like this than just hitting ourselves in practice. We have to come out fired up to show teams that we’re here to play.”
Junior fullback Trey Wood also was effective on the ground for Brewer, which rushed for more than 200 yards behind the line play of Tyler Bean, Austin Lufkin, Alex Brooks, Jordan Wood, Zach Caron and tight ends Friel and Erick Seekins.
“Coming off Lawrence we had no letdowns, we took the next step,” said Caron.
Class A Bangor had just one rush of more than six yards while the starters were in the contest, that run almost went the distance as Johnson broke free up the middle on the final play of the first quarter — only to have a touchdown-saving shoestring tackle by Hunter Umel prevent the touchdown on what went as a 17-yard gain.
Bangor averted a shutout when backup quarterback Gary Farnham connected with Ben Burt on a 43-yard touchdown pass with 1:30 left in the game. Luke Tuell added the two-point conversion rush.
But it was small solace for the Rams, who open their regular season at home against Edward Little of Auburn next Friday night.
“We have to use this as a teaching tool. We have to get better,” said first-year Bangor head coach Al Mosca. “We have to get better with coaching, we have to get better playing. Brewer’s a very good football team, but we just have to get better in all three facets of the game.”
