BANGOR, Maine — The Edward Little of Auburn football team thought its 2½ hour trip to Cameron Stadium had gone unfulfilled in the final minute of play Friday night.
A go-ahead touchdown pass from Matt Verrill to C.J. Jipson had been erased after the fact, the result of a late timeout called by first-year Bangor coach Al Mosca after he noticed Jipson uncovered along the far sideline.
But rather than dwell on that stunning turn of events, the Red Eddies regrouped — with Verrill throwing 24-yard touchdown pass to Drew Lashua on the next play with 46 seconds remaining to give Edward Little an even more stunning 22-19 victory over Bangor in their Class A North season opener.
“It’s about playing through adversity,” said EL coach Dave Sterling, whose team matched its win total for the entire 2014 season. “(Verrill and Lashua) worked a lot through the summer with our 7-on-7 program, we went to Massachusetts and competed in a 7-on-7 program against all-Massachusetts schools in an Under Armor event, and three times we won games in the closing seconds.
“The amount of work they put in during the summer paid off at the end of this game.”
Leading 19-14 with just over four minutes remaining, Bangor recovered an onside kick at its 41-yard line and rushed for a first down with less than 2 minutes remaining before an EL helmet forced a fumble by Rams’ fullback Ben Crichton that the Red Eddies recovered near midfield with 1:26 left.
Verrill then threw a lateral on the next play to backup quarterback Grant Hartley, who found Lashua (seven catches, 80 yards) open down the right sideline for a 24-yard gain to the Bangor 24.
EL scored an apparent touchdown three plays later on a 24-yard strike from Verrill to the wide-open Jipson, setting off a celebration among the Red Eddies until the officials gathered and ruled that Mosca — who had raced down the Bangor sideline signaling for a timeout once he realized no one was defending Jipson — had indeed been granted the respite before the ball was snapped.
“I’m not going to lie, I was going through the roof on that, I was baffled,” said Verrill, who completed 14 of 26 passes for 180 yards and two TDs. “But I had (assistant) coach (Andrew) Cessario in my ear calming me down. It happens, but we all really knew we could win this and we came together. I’ve never felt so close to this team until now.”
The delay allowed Edward Little to set up its next play, with Lashua racing down the right sideline to the end zone and then rising above the Bangor defense to catch a pass nearly perfectly thrown by Verrill.
“We’ve been working on that fade since fourth grade,” said Verrill. “That’s our play.”
Edward Little finished with 262 yards of total offense, 206 through the air, while Bangor amassed 272 of its 353 total yards on the ground, with senior halfback Dane Johnson totaling 158 yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries while Crichton added 64 yards on 18 rushes.
“I’m certainly proud of my kids but I’m certainly impressed with the way coach Sterling and his kids fought all night,” said Mosca. “It was a great football game, two teams going at it with a lot of passion and pride.”
Bangor withstood a pass interception by EL’s Tyler Blanchard on its first possession to take a 6-0 lead with a 16-play, 73-yard march that ended when Johnson scored from 3 yards out on a fourth-and-goal play with 29.8 seconds left in the opening quarter.
After Edward Little failed to get a first down for the second straight possession, Bangor used two fourth-down conversions to extend its lead to 12-0 on Jeff Lewis’ 21-yard touchdown pass to tight end Justin Smith with 6:49 left before halftime.
Edward Little used a big fourth-down play of its own to set up its first touchdown of the season, a 12-yard scoring pass from Verrill to Blanchard with 41.1 seconds left in the half.
EL got the ball with 4:07 left in the second period after and exchange of three-and-outs, and the possession looked stymied near midfield until Verrill rolled to his left on fourth-and-9 from the Bangor 48 and then threw downfield against his body to Isaac Cote, who made the catch near the sideline for a 32-yard gain to the Rams’ 16.
Two plays later, Verrill found Blanchard open in the left flat, and the junior wideout raced to the corner of the end zone and scored by reaching the ball across the goal line.
Liam Benson added the extra-point kick as the Red Eddies pulled within 12-7.
“I thought we gained a lot of momentum going into the half,” said Lashua, “ and we knew we could pick it up going into the second half.”
Edward Little threatened to take the lead on its second possession of the third quarter, with a 26-yard pass from Verrill to Jipson moving the ball inside the Bangor 20 before back-to-back defensive plays by Nick Canarr and Ethan Dorman on throws to the end zone ended the threat.
Bangor then drove 85 yards in 11 plays to extend its lead to 19-7 on a 2-yard run by Johnson with 10:59 left in the game, with Brennen Corless adding the extra-point kick.
A 44-yard reception and run by Jipson soon moved EL to the Bangor 2 and Caden Begos went off left tackle into the end zone on the next play to draw the Red Eddies within 19-14 with 4:13 remaining.
