Injuries are inevitable in high school football, which makes depth a pivotal quality for successful teams.
So when Bangor star halfback Joey Morrison was sidelined by injury early in the Rams’ Class A matchup against Edward Little at Cameron Stadium on Friday night, Cabryn Streams was the next man up.
The senior delivered, rushing for 127 yards on 10 carries and scoring three touchdowns as Bangor improved its record to 5-1 with a 49-13 victory.
“It’s unfortunate for Joey,” Streams said. “We didn’t need him tonight, but he’s going to be huge in the next few games and we need him to rest up.”
Coach Dave Morris’ club scored twice in the game’s opening 46 seconds and cruised to its second victory in as many weekends on the new and brightly lit artificial turf that was installed on the Rams’ home field during the summer.
“It’s awesome,” Streams said. “It’s like I’m in a movie.”
Bangor’s performance included a highlight reel of big plays, as the Rams scored seven touchdowns and amassed 383 yards of total offense while amassing four quarterback sacks and three turnovers on defense.
Senior quarterback Max Clark completed 14 of 22 passes for 193 yards with two touchdowns, while Morrison had 53 rushing yards on just three carries before suffering a leg injury midway through the first quarter.
“I think we played great tonight. We were a little flat in the second half, but we want to be here and we want to play hard,” Bangor senior defensive end Yedi Moneke said. “It’s our senior year and we don’t want to let it go.”
Bangor had 320 yards of total offense in the first half in building a 42-7 cushion.
The Rams needed just two plays to march 54 yards after receiving the opening kickoff.
Morrison ran right 31 on the first play from scrimmage, then Clark passed to younger brother Landon Clark for a 23-yard touchdown strike to give the Rams a 7-0 edge 28 seconds into the contest.
Bangor senior inside linebacker Kevin Grover stripped the ball from an EL ball carrier on the Red Eddies’ first play from scrimmage after the kickoff and returned the turnover 30 yards to the endzone to make it 14-0 with still 11:14 left in the opening quarter.
Morrison was sidelined with a leg injury on Bangor’s next offensive series after a 15-yard run to the EL 15-yard line and did not return to the game. Streams soon capped off the drive with a 1-yard scoring run to give the Rams a 21-0 lead with 6:22 left in the first period.
A Moneke sack of EL quarterback Jack Keefe for a 9-yard loss led to Bangor getting the ball back at the Red Eddies’ 35 with 2:35 left.
Two plays later Clark passed to Streams headed toward the right sideline, and he eluded one defender and then used a downfield block from tight end Colton Emerson to finish off a 71-yard touchdown connection with 46.1 left in the period.
“I just turned my head around and it was a perfectly placed ball by Max,” Streams said. “The rest was history.”
Bangor senior Hunter Gorman recovered an Edward Little fumbled punt return at the Red Eddies’ 40, and senior halfback Colton Trisch capped off a seven-play drive with a 1-yard run to make it 35-0 with 7:49 left in the half.
The Rams threatened again but fumbled the ball away while going into the end zone for another score, with the resulting touchback giving Edward Little possession at its 20-yard line.
After Keefe was sacked on first down by Jackson Vorenkamp for a 10-yard loss, the EL QB passed to Jason Brooker, who raced 90 yards to the end zone to get the Red Eddies on the board with 2:42 remaining until intermission.
Bangor drove 55 yards in six plays to build its cushion back to 35 points. Streams had runs of 18 and 15 yards up the middle and Clark completed two passes to Emerson, first for 17 yards and then for the final 2 yards to the endzone to make it 42-7 with 1:25 left in the half.
A pass interception by Ryan Howard set up Bangor’s final score, a 12-yard run by Streams midway through the fourth quarter. Parker Richmond completed a 7-for-7 night on extra-point kicks to make it 49-7.
A 70-yard kickoff return by Hunter Lachance set up a 3-yard scoring run by EL’s Jacob Grealish with 2:49 remaining.