BANGOR – It’s a credit to the quality of the Foxcroft Academy football program that when the Ponies defeat a team by 33 points, much of the post-game conversation is about the competitiveness of the opponent.

Foxcroft wore down John Bapst 41-8 at Cameron Stadium on Saturday night, but even the Ponies were impressed with the grittiness of the Crusaders, who entered the game riding a two-game winning streak after losing 41 consecutive games since 1998.

“They played us a lot tougher than the score shows,” said Foxcroft quarterback and safety Josh Withee. “They’re a quality team, they’re going to get some wins and surprise some people. They’re a lot more physical than we expected and they really took it to us in the beginning of the game.”

Ultimately, where John Bapst aspires to elevate its program is where Foxcroft resides in the here and now.

The Ponies, defending Eastern Maine Class C champion, are 4-0 this season and have not lost a regular-season contest since 2001.

“To earn their respect is tremendous because they’re a great program,” said first-year John Bapst head coach Dan O’Connell. “Hats off to them, they’re well coached, they’re physical, they do it all. They can run, pass, play defense, the whole works.”

One reason for that balance is Withee, who on this night completed 5 of 10 passes for 146 yards and three touchdowns, two to Greg Perry and the third to Matt Earnest. Another reason is senior fullback-linebacker Lincoln Robinson, who led the hard-hitting Ponies’ defense while rushing for 76 yards and a touchdown on eight carries.

Junior tailback Bobby Gilbert added 73 yards and two scores on nine carries for the Ponies, who collectively rushed for 152 yards.

“We’re balanced enough with our pass and run that we can hurt some teams,” said Foxcroft coach Paul Withee. “If they want to put eight in the box, I don’t think that teams can cover us.”

John Bapst (2-2) got a big effort from junior quarterback George Keefe, who rushed for 100 yards on 20 carries, including a 48-yard scoring run to cap a nine-play, 80-yard drive on the first series of the second half.

That pulled the Crusaders within 20-8, but Foxcroft responded with two touchdowns in the next four minutes to re-assume control of the game.

First, Gilbert broke a 54-yard touchdown run two plays after he had a 90-yard kickoff return negated by a penalty. Then, after forcing a quick John Bapst punt, the Ponies marched 56 yards in five plays, with Withee hitting Earnest on a 28-yard pass play to set up a 15-yard scoring run by Robinson that extended the Foxcroft lead to 34-8 with 5:21 left in the third quarter.

“A lot of time coaches say the first three minutes after halftime controls the second half,” Robinson said. “When they punched one in on us, I think it was a big deal that we didn’t hang our heads. We came ready to play and got after it after that.”

Withee connected with Perry from 37 yards out for Foxcroft’s final score with 9:04 left in the game.

Coming off an emotional 35-0 win against Bucksport a week earlier, the Ponies scored the first three times they had the ball to take a 20-0 lead. Withee used a nice play fake to set up a 40-yard touchdown pass to Earnest just 2:02 into the contest, after John Bapst initially had stopped Foxcroft on downs only to commit a roughing-the-punter penalty.

Andrew Pomeroy recovered a John Bapst fumble to set up the Ponies’ next drive, a 66-yard march capped by a 15-yard scoring run by Gilbert. Withee then found Perry open for a 30-yard scoring strike on the first play of the second quarter, and the rout seemingly was on.

But John Bapst kept hitting, and was rewarded late in the half when Ben Amaral tackled Gilbert in the end zone for a safety to cut the gap to 20-2.

“It was good to see us get up off the mat and fight back,” said O’Connell. “The bad part is 41-8 doesn’t necessarily show that. But this is a good tool for us to say, ‘Look at Foxcroft, see how relentless they are.’

“Where they are is where we need to get.”

PONIES 41, CRUSADERS 8

Foxcroft Acad. (4-0) 14 6 14 7 ? 41

John Bapst (2-2) 0 2 6 0 ? 8

FA ? Earnest 40 pass from Withee (kick failed)

FA ? Gilbert 15 run (Earnest rush)

FA ? Perry 30 pass from Withee (kick failed)

JB ? Safety, Gilbert tackled in end zone

JB ? Keefe 48 run (rush failed)

FA ? Gilbert 54 run (kick failed)

FA ? Robinson 15 run (Withee rush)

FA ? Perry 37 pass from Withee (Withee kick)

Foxcroft John Bapst

First downs 14 14

Rushing att.-yards 32-152 41-109

Passing comp.-att. 5-10 8-20

Passing yards 146 92

Total yards 298 201

Punts-avg. 5-41.0 7-24.3

Fumbles-lost 3-1 3-2

Intercepted by 2 0

Penalties-yards 6-68 8-75

Rushing

Foxcroft: Robinson 8-76, Gilbert 9-73, J. Lewis 1-6, M. Kennedy 3-5, Libby 1-4, Earnest 4-4, Grass 1-2, Pomeroy 2-0, Withee 3-(minus 18); John Bapst: Keefe 20-100, T. Carey 20-11, Alvarez 1-(minus 2)

Passing

Foxcroft: Withee 5-10-0-146; John Bapst: Keefe 6-17-2-58, T. Carey 2-3-0-34

Receiving

Foxcroft: Earnest 2-68, Perry 2-67, Robinson 1-11; John Bapst: Pattison 4-50, Yeo 2-32, T. Carey 1-5, Tardiff 1-5

A? 900 (est.)