BANGOR, Maine —It was an unpredictable thriller that had a little bit of everything and no shortage of drama.
Friday night’s Class A North football game between Lewiston High School and Bangor High School wasn’t decided until there were just 4.7 seconds left, when senior Michael Caron booted the second game-winning field goal of his career, a 37-yarder, to give Lewiston a 10-7 win at Cameron Stadium.
It was a game in which Lewiston that lost four fumbles still managed to prevail as it improved to 2-0 while Bangor fell to 0-3.
The game appeared headed for overtime after Bangor had squandered a chance to take the lead when the Rams couldn’t move the ball after linebacker Zac Cota recovered a fumble at the Lewiston 43 yard-line with 2:02 remaining.
Lewiston took over at its own 21-yard-line with just 52.1 seconds to play after a Bangor punt.
Senior quarterback Lonnie Thomas completed a three-yard pass to Joseph Dube and then tossed a 27-yarder to Caron to move the ball to the Bangor 49.
On the next play, he scrambled out of pressure and found a wide open Deion Jackson at the 19-yard line. Jackson raced out of bounds to stop the clock and was hit by a Ram, which resulted in a late hit penalty that moved the ball down to the 11.
“[The Bangor defensive backs] were playing so far back, I just used that to my advantage,” said Jackson. “I just looked for the open spot on the field.”
“The [offensive] line really helped me out,” said Thomas. “They gave me plenty of time to extend plays and make reads. I was able to keep my eyes downfield and make throws. The [receivers] got open, they made the right runs and they knew the clock situation so they got out of bounds.”
But Caron’s kick became more difficult because Bangor’s Wyatt Feero sacked Thomas for a nine-yard loss back to the 20.
“I had full faith in him. He has kicked a thousand of those in practice and in games. I had no doubt,” said Thomas, who was the holder on the field goal attempt.
“I want to give a shout out to the offensive lineman and especially Lonnie,” said Caron. “I just tried to stay calm, keep my head down and try to exit out the noise.”
“Mike is a very talented kicker. He has great aspirations to get to the next level,” said Lewiston coach Jason Versey. “I’m incredibly proud of him.”
Caron has kicked several field goals in his career, including a game-winner in a 19-16 win over South Portland last season.
The game was tied 7-7 at the half and both teams had opportunities to score in the second half.
Thomas fumbled the snap inside the Bangor one-yard line in the third quarter and defensive tackle Jake Biberstein recovered it for Bangor.
After the recovery, Bangor strung together an 18-play, 86-yard drive that stalled on Lewiston’s 13-yard line when workhorse quarterback Kyle Johnson was stopped inches short of the first down marker on a fourth-and-three run.
But the Blue Devils fumbled it back to the Rams just over three minutes later.
Bangor took a 7-0 lead with 9:49 remaining in the first half when senior running back Mason Knights burst 30 yards up the middle for a touchdown.
The Blue Devils tied the game in dramatic fashion as Thomas lofted a ball into the right corner of the end zone on the final play of the half and Jeffrey Randall came down with it in a jump ball situation against two Rams.
“I knew exactly who it was going to,” said Thomas. “[Randall] was in the right spot at the right time and I knew he was going to make that play.”
That play capped a potential 14-point swing.
Just a minute before, Bangor had moved the ball 58 yards down to the Lewiston-19 yard line and was in position to extend the lead to 14-0.
But Jayden Sands sacked Johnson for an eight-yard loss and a Johnson pass glanced off a Ram receiver’s hands into the waiting arms of Thomas, who returned it to the Lewiston 30-yard line.
“It was such a sloppy game,” said Versey whose team had last weekend off after opening the season with a 27-18 win over Bonny Eagle of Buxton.”We’re a much better football program than this. We were a little rusty.
“But the kids are full of heart and perseverance, they played like a family, and we came out with a very, very close victory,” said the third-year coach who is now 3-0 against Bangor.
Bangor coach David Morris didn’t feel the late hit call on his player on the last drive was justified.
“They played hard and we played hard. You have to have a feel for the game and let the kids determine [the outcome],” said Morris.”That game deserved to go into overtime.”
After throwing two incompletions to start the game, Thomas completed 10 of the next 11 for 132 yards. He also carried the ball seven times for 27 yards.
Jackson Bement carried the ball four times for 50 yards, Dube had 10 for 47 and Randall had five for 31 yards. Randall caught four passes for 39 yards and Jackson had two for 40. Damonte Spearman made two grabs for 25 yards.
Johnson had 16 carries for 66 yards to pace the Rams. He ran hard and picked up a lot of his yards after contact as he carried tacklers with him. Knights had 10 carries for 63 yards and Trey Tennett had two receptions for 18 yards.
Johnson completed five of 13 passes for 36 yards but was under a lot of pressure as the Devils often blitzed.
Both teams will be on the road next week.
The Rams will travel to take on Class B North Lawrence of Fairfield at 7 p.m. Friday while Lewiston will trek to A North rival Portland for a 6 p.m. Friday contest.
