MELROSE — In a season opener with a whole bunch of new players to break in, everything isn't going to go smoothly. But Bangor's start to the 2024 season was close to as good as the Cardinals could have hoped for.
Bangor (1-0) went on the road and steamrolled its way to a resounding 35-7 victory over the Melrose-Mindoro Mustangs (0-1) in their Week 1 non-conference clash on Thursday, August 22 in Melrose.
This marked the fourth straight year where the Cardinals began their season against the Mustangs. They've now won all four of those meetings by a combined score of 152-14.
Last Thursday, Bangor set the tone right away with a kickoff return out to midfield and a quick touchdown drive within two minutes that featured a 27-yard run by junior Dylan Mathison and senior Eli Tucker's three-yard TD run. After forcing a Melrose-Mindoro punt, the Cardinals again dominated their way on the ground with a five-play, 63-yard drive that yielded a 12-yard Mathison touchdown run.
On a fourth-and-5 play late in the first quarter, Melrose-Mindoro senior Collin Christianson got behind the Bangor secondary and sophomore quarterback Brady Blaken connected with him on a 51-yard touchdown pass to cut the deficit in half to 14-7.
The Mustangs nearly recovered the kickoff and forced the Cardinals in a third-and-10 situation, but Bangor junior quarterback Hayden Massman's first pass attempt of the evening found senior Landon Phillips deep for a 70-yard touchdown strike.
Phillips picked off Blaken on the ensuing Melrose-Mindoro drive to give the Cardinals excellent field position, though a bad snap resulted in them eventually facing third and 20. Once again, Massman showed off his arm with a 33-yard touchdown pass to Mathison that extended Bangor's lead to 26-7 — the eventual halftime score after the Cardinals got a stop at the goal line as the second quarter ended.
"I really liked the fast start. I liked the way we responded," said Bangor head coach Todd Grant. "I told the guys, it's the first game. It's not going to be 100 percent smooth. No game ever really is, but especially the first game. We give up a long touchdown pass. How are you going to respond? I like how we answered back on that."
In the second half, Massman ran in a three-yard touchdown late in the third quarter and Tucker added a 22-yard field goal with 5:10 to go in the game to wrap up the scoring.
Mathison ran for 85 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries and Tucker had 78 yards on 17 rushes. Massman impressed by completing 4 of his 5 passes for 173 yards and two TDs, with Phillips hauling in two catches for 114 yards and a touchdown.
"Just trust in my line to keep me safe out there and block good," Massman said. "I've got good wide receivers that can catch the ball well."
Defensively, junior Gabriel Cropp had 12 tackles (including six solo and three sacks) while senior Jacob Warsing added two sacks and Mathison had a sack as well.
Blaken completed 15 of 24 passes for 206 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Christianson had two catches for 68 yards and a touchdown. Melrose-Mindoro was held to -2 rushing yards on 21 total attempts.
"We came out fast and strong. We had the O line blocking, doing everything they should," Mathison said. "We might've made a few mistakes, but we still came out and performed as we should, and it will definitely get better. The offensive line will get better, the defense will get better. Watch film, get in the field and just keep going hard."
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here