Cheverus turned in a businesslike performance while rolling to a 30-0 victory against winless Bangor in a Class A North football game Saturday afternoon at Boulos Stadium.
Max Coffin and Rylan Benedict each rushed for more than 100 yards and a touchdown, and Jack Casale threw two third-quarter scoring passes to Dominic Casale, his cousin, as the Stags moved to 4-2.
Cheverus forced three turnovers and limited the Rams (0-6) to five first downs and 87 yards.
The Stags, coming off a 35-27 loss to Portland, took a conservative approach during the first half, which ended with them holding a 10-0 lead.
“We wanted to get our running game going a little bit (because) we still have work to do in that area,” Cheverus Coach Mike Vance said. “We’ve got a couple of guys who can pass and catch the ball, but we want to round us out.”
Coffin, who rushed for 141 yards on 17 carries, opened the scoring when he swept left 11 yards on a misdirection play less than seven minutes into the game. Casale attempted just one pass during the 10-play, 62-yard drive after the Rams gave up the ball on downs.
With less than three minutes left in the first half, Zack Milliken kicked a 27-yard field goal to cap a 15-play, 77-yard march that took seven minutes off the clock.
The Casales took over in the third quarter.
On the third play following the second-half kickoff, they hooked up for a 60-yard scoring play, with Dominic Casale outjumping defensive back Derek McCarthy on a deep pass down the left side of the field.
Midway through the third quarter, Jack Casale threw a 38-yard scoring pass to his cousin, who was wide open in the end zone.
“Obviously, (the Casales) grew up doing that in the backyard, but we’ve got to be able to do other things, too,” Vance said.
Against the Rams, who went into the game allowing more than 40 points per game, the Stags rushed for 276 yards.
Benedict, who gained 124 yards on 24 carries, completed the scoring when he went up the middle 27 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
Cheverus remained in second place in the Class A North Crabtree standings with two challenging games remaining – at Scarborough and at home against Windham – as it tries to earn a bye in the first round of the playoffs.
Bangor finishes the season with games at Portland on Friday night and at home against Oxford Hills/Buckfield on Oct. 21. Portland is the region’s top-ranked team, while the Vikings are contending for a playoff berth.
“The kids have been working hard every day, and that’s all we can ask,” said Bangor Coach Alan Mosca, in his second season with the Rams. “We’ve seen improvement from week to week. We’ve got great kids and we believe in them.”
In each of the three previous seasons, Bangor had advanced to the regional semifinals.
“We lost a lot from last year and we’ve got some seniors playing, but they haven’t played a lot (in the past) because the group ahead of them played a lot for three years,” Mosca said.
“Give credit to Cheverus, they made a lot of great plays and they wore us down.”
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