BANGOR- Cameron Hughes scored four rushing touchdowns on Friday night, and the Brewer Witches broke the game open by outscoring the Bangor Rams 27-0 in the third quarter in rolling to a 35-6 opening night football win at Cameron Stadium. The game marked the 110th all-time meeting between Brewer and Bangor.
Bangor had the first possession of the night, and on the very first play from scrimmage quarterback Jack Schuck fumbled the snap and Brewer defensive end Titus Philbrick recovered at the Rams 34 yard line. The Witches took advantage as Hughes went in for his first rushing score from four yards out, and Jaxon Gross caught a two-point conversion pass from Evan Nadeau for an 8-0 lead. That score stood until halftime, as neither team could move the ball much the remainder of that first half. Bangor had their deepest march of the opening 24 minutes late in the second quarter, but Schuck was sacked on a fourth down play at the Brewer 26.
Hughes began his huge third quarter by taking the second half kickoff and returning it 49 yards to the Bangor 40 yard line. A horse collar tackle on the play resulted in a personal foul to set the Witches up at the 25. After Brewer got backed up by penalties, runs of 16 and 15 yards from Hughes was capped off by Hughes with a nine yard scoring run to extend the lead to 14-0 just 1:15 into the third. Just over four minutes later, quarterback Ryder Goodwin made it 21-0 with a five yard keeper for a TD run. The Rams would fumble the ensuing kickoff, and again the Witches were on it to recover at the Bangor 40. Hughes helped the guests take advantage again as he sliced through the defense for a 28 yard rushing score, and a few minutes later after a 37 yard run he finished off his big third quarter with a short one yard TD run and it was 35-0 with 3:37 left in the period. The senior had 146 yards rushing and found the endzone three times in just over seven minutes. The Rams got on the scoreboard late in the contest on a 13 yard TD pass from Schuck to Connor Boone with just 8.6 seconds left to go.
Hughes finished with 22 rushing attempts for 173 yards and the four touchdowns. Goodwin completed 6-11 passes for 70 yards, and added six rushes for 53 yards and the one third quarter score. Schuck went 8-18 for 83 yards and a touchdown in the loss for Bangor. The Witches outgained the Rams 312-184 in total yards. Brewer is at Skowhegan next Friday night in their next game, while Bangor will head out on the road next Friday as well to face Lewiston.
Photos are courtesy of Anthony DelMonaco
