BANGOR – Bangor coach Mark Hackett had a premonition, and Bangor kicker Tyson Barron had just enough leg.

Otherwise Bangor and Mt. Blue might still be playing at Cameron Stadium.

Barron’s 37-yard field goal attempt just barely cleared the cross bar with 7:23 left in the first quarter and the Rams’ defense made it stand up for a 3-0 victory in a clash of Pine Tree Conference unbeatens.

“I didn’t get the full ball, but I guess God was with me on that one,” said Barron, a junior. “Coach told me before the game that every play was going to be big, so if you get out there, you better get the job done.”

“Anytime we’re inside of a 50-yard field goal, we know that we’ve got a good chance of it going through,” Hackett said. “We got down close and we knew we needed to get points on the board, because we knew they’d be tough and we thought our defense could hold them down a little bit. We thought it would be a 3-0 or 9-6 game.”

This one was either a defensive standoff or a succession of missed opportunities, depending on how one looked at it. Bangor, led by junior running back Nick Payson (15 carries, 112 yards) marched into Mt. Blue territory on four of its five first half possessions. The Rams only had Barron’s kick to show for it as Mt. Blue’s defense, led by Jared Richards (two sacks), Jordan Stevens and Rob Blake held its own against Bangor’s massive offensive line.

“The (Cleveland) Browns aren’t that big. They’re big, strong (and) experienced,” Mt. Blue coach Gary Parlin said. “How could a coach be any prouder of his offensive and defensive lines going up against probably one of the best lines in the state of Maine?”

The Cougars (2-1), who ran over Waterville and Westbrook in their first two games, couldn’t get much going in the first half against a stout Ram defense led by Ricky Dexter and Nick Buchanan.

But after compiling just 34 yards on the ground in the first 24 minutes, Mt. Blue made a halftime adjustment in its blocking and began to find some success behind Jordan Stevens (12 carries, 62 yards) and David DiGravio (eight rushes, 64 yards) in the third quarter.

On their second series, back-to-back runs of 27 and 14 yards by DiGravio and Stevens respectively gave the Cougars their best field position to that point, the Bangor 33. DiGravio fumbled on a reverse two plays later, however, and Buchanan recovered for the Rams (3-0).

It was just a temporary hiccup, though, as Matt Burnham picked off a Brian Hackett pass on Bangor’s next play to set Mt. Blue up with its best starting field position of the night at Bangor’s 46.

Any hopes of the Cougars at least tying the score drifted away when a subsequent 14-yard run by DiGravio that would have put the Cougars at the Rams’ 22 was called back due to holding.

“They were coming so hard off the corners that we had to down-block that and we got outside,” Parlin said. “(Tight end) Will Plancon made some nice blocks, then we get the typical phantom Bangor holding call, which you always get up here.”

Alex Gallant then intercepted a Mason Barker pass intended for Will Plancon at the three with 2:35 left in the third quarter.

The Cougars never got any closer, but Parlin stepped back and took stock of his team’s performance at the season’s one-third point..

“Losing all but one starter, I was afraid that we could possibly be 0-3 at this point in the season and trying to rebound next week,” Parlin said.

“Before the season, if the good Lord would have given me 2-1 to start the season, I would have taken it in a second.”