BANGOR – Speedy Windham High School senior wide receiver/defensive back Landon Wyman had a night to remember in Friday’s 21-14 Class A North victory over Bangor at Cameron Stadium.
He returned a kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown to ignite his sluggish team in the second quarter; he caught seven passes for 90 yards including three that picked up first downs on the game-winning drive and then he capped his evening with a fourth-quarter interception that stopped a Rams drive and allowed his team to run out the clock.
Both teams are now 2-2.
“He’s a good player,” said Bangor coach Jack Hersom. “From the film we’ve seen, we were trying to game plan around him a little bit with stuff in the secondary but he still was able to make some big conversions.”
The most important conversion came on a fourth-and-eight play at the Bangor-15 yard line early in the fourth quarter. The score was tied 14-14.
Junior quarterback Patrick Davenport, who didn’t play the first half as the result of a “team decision” according to Windham head coach Matt Perkins, threw a nice 12-yard pass to an open Wyman near the right sidelines to pick up the first down at the Bangor-3.
Davenport ran the ball into the end zone on the next play for the game-winning score.
The Rams tried to cover Wyman with one defensive back but he got separation from the defensive back and hauled in the pass.
“It was a great call by coach Perkins and (assistant) coach (Joe) Allen and we made it happen,” said Wyman. “We played the boundary and it was a great ball from my QB (Davenport).
“(The defensive back) gave me a little room and that’s probably why we picked that play. I just cut back and I was open,” said Wyman who added that he and Davenport have a good chemistry on the field. “We’ve been playing (together) our whole lives. It’s been awesome.”
“(Wyman) continued to make plays all night,” said Hersom, who decided against double-teaming Wyman “because they had some other weapons.”
“They were crowding the box because I think they were still concerned we were going to come back to the run and they didn’t adjust,” said Perkins. “But we like our receivers. We feel we’re pretty balanced across the board. (Wyman) is a great player but we had tons of them tonight.”
Earlier in the drive, Davenport threw to Wyman for 16 yards on a third-and-six and they collaborated again, this time on a nine-yard pass while facing another third-and-six at the B-26.
Bangor took the ensuing kickoff and moved it from its own 40 to the Windham 36.
But the Rams found themselves in a fourth-and-five predicament and dynamic wide receiver Gavin Hughes tried a halfback option pass that was intercepted by Wyman with 7:10 remaining.
Windham took over at its own 16-yard line and Davenport and Wyman hooked up on a 27-yard completion to move the chains on a third-and-seven play and they teamed up again for another first down via a 10-yard gain on second-and-seven.
A 39-yard touchdown scamper by Davenport was called back due to a penalty but the Eagles kept the ball on the ground to run the clock out as Jordan Pastore carried five times for 22 yards and M.J. Imran had a six-yard carry.
Bangor opened the game with a 44-yard drive that was thwarted when Ronin Rotaru picked off an Alex Tennett pass.
Bangor took the lead in the second quarter on a six-play, 34-yard drive capped by a one-yard quarterback sneak by Tennett.
But the lead lasted only 12 seconds as Wyman fielded Aiden Russo’s kickoff at the 20-yard line and raced untouched down the left sideline for the tying touchdown.
Up to that point, the Eagles had mustered just five yards of offense.
“We had amazing blockers,” said Wyman. “Coach (Perkins) drew it up and we made it happen.
“That really stepped up our energy. Everyone was hyped up from there. That’s how you win games,” said Wyman.
“That was back-breaking,” said Hersom. “We have to improve in that area if we’re going to win games down the stretch.
“We have to be aware of that kind of speed. He is a very dangerous player with the ball in his hands,” said Hersom.
“That was big,” said Perkins. “We had been close before. We have broken some big ones. There were some great blocks.”
Just 1:47 later, sophomore Dre Oneil gave the visitors a 14-7 lead with a scintillating 79-yard TD run and that’s the way it ended in the half.
“That run got the juices going. It got our guys believing they could get it done,” said Perkins.
Bangor thwarted a late second-quarter drive for Windham at the 13-yard line to remain with seven.
Hughes tied it up with 6:06 left in the third quarter when he took a pitchout from Tennett, found a seam and put on a burst of speed to break free of the pack on an 88-yard TD run.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Rams feared kicking it to Wyman so they kicked a short ball which gave Windham great field position at midfield and the Eagles put together their game-winning 11-play 50-yard drive.
Perkins noted that Wyman’s kickoff return touchdown helped change the game around because they wound up with good field position when Bangor avoided kicking it to Wyman.
“This was a huge win. We showed what we can do. This will turn our season around,” said Wyman.
“A lot of things were against us. But to grow up, really look into the mirror and come up here and get it done is huge for us. This will be a really big building block for us,” said Perkins.
Davenport completed six of seven passes for 81 yards and he also ran for 18 yards and a touchdown. Oneil had 82 rushing yard on two carries. Wyman caught five passes from Davenport for 74 yards after catching two from Rotaru in the first half for 16 yards.
Bangor’s Hughes carried the ball seven times for 123 yards and caught three passes for 49 yards. Tennett completed six of 12 passes for 77 yards. He was intercepted twice. Obi Okafor carried the ball 11 times for 63 yards.
“Credit Windham. They made plays in certain moments when it counted,” said Hersom. “The kids battled all night. It’s another tough loss. It came down to the wire. We have to find ways to win games like this.”
Bangor lost their home opener to Massabesic of Waterboro 22-18.
Rotaru, Nathan Somma, Luke Drottar and Gage Chicoine were defensive standouts for Windham and Rotaru, Wyman and Aiden Lister had interceptions.
Hughes, Okafor, Will Houghton and Lucian Matzilevich shone on defense for Bangor.
Bangor has next weekend off before going to Portland for an Oct. 9 game at 6 p.m.
Windham will host Bonny Eagle of Buxton next Friday at 6.