BANGOR – In its first two games this year, Bucksport kept to a ground-oriented offense. The Golden Bucks threw just three passes against Lisbon last week, and while quarterback Cameron Giroux was a factor, his throwing arm wasn’t.

This week, coach Joel Sankey figured that maybe it was time for Bucksport to test the air.

After just two plays from the line of scrimmage, the Bucks liked what they saw. And although Bucksport couldn’t keep up the passing pace throughout the entire game, Giroux’s arm – plus some standout efforts from the backfield – was good enough for a 35-12 victory over John Bapst at Cameron Stadium Saturday night.

The senior QB finished with 119 yards on 4-for-9 passing with one interception.

The first two times Giroux touched the ball, he threw for a touchdown. The first score came on a 44-yard pass to Peter Saunders just 1 minute, 40 seconds into the game. Saunders would catch another TD pass in the second quarter on a 33-yarder from Giroux.

“We came into the game thinking we were going to throw,” Giroux said. “We saw that they didn’t have any safeties in the middle of the field. Our receivers are very fast and we knew if I could get the ball to them they could score.”

Giroux did it again on Bucksport’s second play of the game, this time finding Craig Harvey for the 43-yard bomb to give the Golden Bucks a 13-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

“We caught them in the defense we expected them to be in,’ Sankey said. “We expected them to be tight on the first play.”

Bucksport scored four of its six touchdowns on passes from Giroux. He also threw an interception in the fourth quarter, which Bapst’s Dan Higgins turned into a 79-yard TD run down the right sideline.

When Giroux didn’t pass, he gave the ball to Ronnie Hutchins, who finished with 62 yards on 13 carries, including a two-yard scamper for a third-quarter touchdown.

Freshman Warren Chase also had a solid night out of the backfield. He ran for 31 yards and scored on a 13-yarder in the first quarter. Jason Gifford added 23 rushing yards.

Chad Gilley, who also worked out of the backfield, put up three points on PAT kicks.

While Bapst had the ability to make big plays, it could not keep up the momentum. A muffed first-quarter punt attempt by Brandon Gray resulted in a 10-yard pass for the first down to keep the drive going, but quarterback Matt Fisher could muster just a six-yard pass to Nate Picard before the Crusaders had to punt again.

“We had their offense down pretty well,” said Giroux, who also starts as a safety on defense. “We knew what they were running. [Higgins] is tough and they were very big up front. But we prepared for them.”

The next play was Giroux’s second TD pass.

Fisher went 8-for-22, but did complete a 23-yard pass to Higgins for the junior running back’s second touchdown.

Higgins led the Crusaders with 80 total yards. Gray tallied 38 yards on the ground.

“We told [the Bapst team] what the first play was going to be and [Bucksport] killed us,” John Bapst coach Bruce Pratt said. “We put our kids in a position to win but we just don’t have the horses. [Bucksport’s] offense is so good, their skill people, like Giroux and Saunders, are just so good.”

Bucks 35, Crusaders 12

Bucksport (2-1) 13 15 7 0 – 35

John Bapst (0-3) 0 0 6 6 – 12

B – Saunders 44 pass from Giroux (Gilley kick)

B – Harvey 43 pass from Giroux (pass failed)

B – Chase 13 run (Giroux run)

B – Saunders 33 pass from Giroux (Gilley kick)

B – Hutchins 2 run (Gilley kick)

JB – Higgins 25 pass from Fisher (rush failed)

JB – Higgins 79 interception from Giroux (rush failed)

Bucksport John Bapst

First downs 7 9 Rushing att. – yds 37-165 29-107 Passing cmp. – att. 4-9 9-25 Yards passing 119 72 Total yards 284 179 Intercepted by 1 3 Punts – avg. 2-35 5-22.4 Fumbles – lost 2-2 1-1 Penalties – yds 6-40 6-30

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – Bucksport: Hutchins 13-62, Chase 3-31, Gifford 5-23, Gilley 3-16, C. Giroux 2-16, McHale 1-8, Carrier 1-2, Atherton 1-0, Maguire 1-0, Shorey 7-7; John Bapst: Higgins 11-53, Gray 9-38, Fisher 3-6, Leighton 3-7, Hale 1-3, Lyon 2-0

PASSING – Bucksport: C. Giroux 4-9-1-119; John Bapst: Fisher 8-22-2-62, Gray 1-2-0-10, Higgins 0-1-1-0

RECEIVING – Bucksport: Saunders 2-77, Harvey 1-43, T. Giroux 1-(-1); John Bapst: Higgins 4-27, Schelling 1-23, Picard 2-14, Zibilske 1-8