BANGOR — What proved to be the longest yard for Lewiston was the shortcut to victory for Bangor Friday night.

Facing fourth-and-one from their own 10, the Blue Devils gambled but came up short. The Rams made the crucial stop and took advantage of the field position to rally from behind in a 28-25 win over Lewiston in the Eastern A championship game.

Bangor advances to the Class A state title game next Saturday at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland.

“The way both teams were running offenses, we took a shot,” Lewiston coach Bill County said.

Lewiston went for the jugular with 2:38 remaining when it tried to convert the fourth down play. Jeff Keene got the ball and tried to get to the outside to the right of center. Bangor, which expected a run to the outside, wasn’t fooled. The Rams were in the backfield in a hurry and tackled Keene for a six-yard loss.

“That was pretty much the biggest play of the game,” said senior safety Dylan Morris, who along with Josiah Hartley and John Kelley were in on the tackle. “I looked at everyone on the team and said, ‘This is it. It’s all or nothing.’ We went downhill and everybody flew around the football and stopped them. It was amazing.”

Lewiston initially tried to draw the Rams offside. When that failed, Bangor was expecting a punt but had to regroup quickly when Lewiston chose to go for it.

“I thought they were going to punt to make us drive down the field,” Morris said. “I think we were having so much success on offense, that they wanted to take their chances.”

The Rams used just two plays to punch it in from the 4. Hartley crashed through the line for the score with 1:59 left. Lewiston got the ball at its own 25. A pair of penalties hampered their cause and Bangor’s secondary keyed on Lewiston’s need to throw the ball, shutting them down at midfield.

“Obviously, I’m proud of the way our kids played,” said County. “This is not what we came here to do. We came here to win. We’re very young. We started eight kids defensively that are underclassmen. Hopefully, they’ll learn from this. We’re heartbroken.”

Lewiston rallied to take the lead in the fourth quarter. After Bangor scored to start the second half, the Blue Devils came right back with a scoring drive of their own. A heavy dose of Keene and Joe McKinnon marched Lewiston down the field. McKinnon, who led Lewiston with 101 yards on 12 carries, burst up the middle from the eight-yard line to make it 25-20 with 10:08 left.

“That’s part of our trait,” said County. “Except for one game all year, I’ve felt that that’s what we do. We’re pretty tenacious. We don’t give up on ourselves. We play within ourselves. I feel even when they scored, the conversation on the sidelines was, ‘Let’s get the ball and do what we do and put some points in the board.'”

Lewiston’s defense made some stops on Bangor’s next possession, but the Rams were still able to execute, converting twice on fourth down. When quarterback Joe Seccareccia rushed for a first down inside the 10, he fumbled the ball away, giving Lewiston possession on the 1 with 4:55 left. When Lewiston failed to get the first down, it gave Bangor new life.

“We had more energy and more emotion after that than this team has had all season,” said Hartley, who led Bangor with 154 yards on 42 carries. “It was enough to push us in the end zone.”

Bangor totalled 380 yards and ground out 228 of those. The Rams got the offense in overdrive in the second half and were able to move the ball consistently.

“It was all determination,” said Hartley. “Me and Joe were talking in the locker room at halftime and said, ‘Let’s get this thing done.’ We came out and worked through and battled.”

 The Blue Devils threw a haymaker just seconds into the game. Jeff Turcotte took the opening kickoff 83 yards and set Lewiston up at the 3. Keene pounded it in from there for the 6-0 lead just 19 seconds into the game.

Bangor came right back with a punch of its own. The Rams produced a 75-yard, 15-play drive, including a pair of fourth-down conversions, and Hartley took it in from the four to tie the game 6-6 with 4:44 left in the quarter.

Lewiston answered right back. The Blue Devils converted a huge third-and-14 when Chris Madden connected with Abdi Osman for a 37-yard play. Turcotte finished the drive with a one-yard run a few plays later, five seconds into the second quarter, for a 13-6 lead.

The Rams countered with a one-yard plunge by Hartley with 2:07 left in the half. Carl Farnham’s point-after hit the left upright, leaving Lewiston ahead, 13-12.

Lewiston then added to its lead. Keene burst down the left side and dove in for a nine-yard run with 41 seconds left. The teams traded penalties before Tom Hird kicked the point after.

Bangor took advantage of a Lewiston fumble one play after a Seccareccia interception, marching the ball 92 yards to take a 20-19 lead. The Rams were aided by a Lewiston holding call on a third-and-seven incomplete pass that gave the Rams a fresh start. Seccareccia capped it off with a scramble around the left side and dove in from the 11. He rushed it up the middle on the conversion for the lead with 2:31 left in the third.

 “I’m proud of the way my kids played,” said County. “Bangor is a good football team. I think there were a lot of people that thought we might get rolled. We challenged our kids with that, and they did a great job.”