BRUNSWICK – Zeb Tuell rushed for two touchdowns and Bangor took advantage of Brunswick’s six fumbles and a failed 2-point conversion to hold on for a 21-20 victory in an Eastern Class A football opener Friday night.

The Dragons outgained the Rams 342-130 and enjoyed an 18-6 edge in first downs. But the turnovers were costly.

“We love turnovers,” said Bangor Coach Mark Hackett. “They beat us up the whole game, but we hung in there and made some plays.”

None was bigger than a gang tackle of Jordan Rysdham on a 2-point conversion attempt with 2:28 remaining after Dylan Walton (161 yards on 23 carries) scored from 3 yards to pull Brunswick within a point.

The Dragons went for the lead and possible victory, but the Rams’ defensive line never gave Rysdham a chance.

“I’m proud of our kids,” said Hackett. “That’s a great team over there and we’re inexperienced, but we hung around and hung around, and did what we had to do.”

Brunswick had one more chance, stopping the Rams with the help of all three timeouts and forcing a punt attempt with two minutes to go. The snap was high, and when punter Carl Farnham was collared behind the line, the Dragons took over at the Bangor 15 with 1:54 left.

But Brunswick fumbled the next snap and the Rams were able to run out the clock.

Walton put the Dragons on top in the first quarter with a 4-yard touchdown run that capped an 11-play, 64-yard drive, but a bad snap on the extra point left it at 6-0.

Bangor failed to take advantage of a Brunswick fumble and Justin Scripture recovery on the Dragons’ 20 in the second quarter, thanks largely to a Sam Bessey tackle of Tuell behind the line on third down.

But after a second Scripture fumble recovery, this time on the Dragons’ 8, Tuell ran it in on fourth down from the 2 and Farnham’s kick made it 7-6.

A Walton sweep for 21 yards was the big gainer on an 80-yard, 11-play Brunswick drive that ended with Rysdham going the final 5 yards on a misdirection play.

Quarterback Jason Carter hit Trent Anderson in the right corner of the end zone for the 2- point conversion, and the Dragons led 14-7 at halftime.

Garret Foss grabbed an errant Brunswick toss at the 4 and scampered into the end zone to tie it with Farnham’s PAT at 9:29 of the third quarter.

A Cain Corkum fumble recovery at the Brunswick 22 set up Tuell’s go-ahead 1-yard touchdown run.

Farnham’s kick provided the eventual winning margin.