BANGOR – The play wasn’t anything Orono hadn’t tried during the first half of Saturday night’s LTC football season opener against John Bapst at Cameron Stadium.

What was different was the execution, from the blocking at the line of scrimmage to senior Mo Nazmy’s breakaway speed.

Sixty-nine yards later, the game was tied, momentum had changed, and the Red Riots were on their way to a hard-fought 19-13 victory.

“We weren’t satisfied with our first half too much,” said Nazmy. “We knew we had to set the tone right from the start to turn the ballgame around, so we gathered ourselves in the locker room, made some adjustments and came out and executed.”

“Gathered themselves” may be a slight understatement for the tone of the halftime message delivered by veteran coach Bob Sinclair, who was making his debut as Orono’s leader.

“We had the kids’ attention at halftime,” said Sinclair. “We were behind [13-6], and they understood that we get paid to do those kinds of things and they get paid to execute, and when it all comes together it’s great.”

That chat produced instant results. On the first play after the second-half kickoff from the Orono 31, Nazmy took a handoff from quarterback Adam Chase and broke a simple dive play to the outside, beating the Bapst defense to the end zone. The extra-point try failed, but a first half in which the Red Riots at times were just hanging on had evolved into a second half they largely controlled.

“A big run like that at any time takes the wind out of your sails,” said John Bapst coach Dan O’Connell. “We preach that the first four minutes of the second half are the most important of the game. We stemmed the tide a little when they missed the extra point, but it definitely took a lot of momentum away from us. We did some things to fight back, but hats off to Orono, they made the plays when they needed to.”

John Bapst responded with a march deep into Orono territory, but Mardy Simon intercepted a fourth-down pass by Crusaders’ quarterback George Keefe in the end zone.

Dustin Thomas broke loose for 34 yards on the Red Riots’ next play, sparking an eight-play, 80-yard drive capped off by Simon’s 2-yard scoring run to give Orono its 19-13 lead with 3:29 left in the period.

Orono drove to the Bapst 13 early in the fourth before losing a fumble, but John Bapst couldn’t capitalize, not reaching Orono territory the rest of the way.

Orono, which played without injured tailback Joe Fullwood, finished with 266 rushing yards, 213 after intermission. Nazmy gained 87 yards on 13 carries, but he was one of three ballcarriers with more than 80 yards, as Simon (9-87) and Thomas (11-81) also found success in the Red Riots’ three-back set.

“We have a bunch of different running backs,” said Thomas. “We try to get the ball to everybody, spread it out, and it usually works for us.”

But it was John Bapst that controlled the early play. Jean Paul Leibfarth recovered a fumble at the Orono 11 midway through the opening quarter, and tailback Travis Carey (28 carries, 130 yards) cashed in with a 6-yard run to give the Crusaders a 7-0 lead.

Orono then reached the JB 30 before defensive end Tyler Yeo stripped the ball from Simon and Carey recovered to end the threat. Bapst soon was poised to take a two-touchdown lead, but a subsequent drive ended at the Orono 11 when Carey fumbled and Thomas recovered.

Orono tied the game with a 64-yard march featuring a 23-yard run by Mardy Simon and 26-yard pass from Chase to tight end Joe Simon. Thomas scored from 1 yard out with 6:30 left before halftime.

John Bapst regained the lead, putting the ball in Carey’s hands for the first 10 plays of a 12-play, 62-yard march. Carey gained 60 yards during the drive, which ended after a penalty with Keefe hitting Corey Pattison on a slant pass for a 6-yard scoring strike with 1:20 left until intermission.

RED RIOTS 19, CRUSADERS 13

Orono (1-0) 0 7 12 0 ? 19

John Bapst (0-1) 7 6 0 0 ? 13

JB ? Tr. Carey 6 run (Yeo kick)

O ? Thomas 1 run (Brothers kick)

JB ? Pattison 6 pass from Keefe (rush failed)

O ? Nazmy 69 run (kick failed)

O ? M. Simon 2 run (rush failed)

Orono John Bapst

First downs 12 17

Rushing att.-yards 46-261 40-170

Passing comp.-att. 3-5 6-19

Passing yards 54 43

Total yards 315 213

Punts-avg. 1-30 4-29

Fumbles-lost 7-3 2-1

Intercepted by 2 0

Penalties-yards 9-77 4-20

Rushing

Orono: Nazmy 9-87, M. Simon 13-85, Thomas 11-81, Millard 9-22, Chase 4-(-14); John Bapst: Tr. Carey 28-130, Keefe 10-19, St. Pierre 1-13, Thom. Carey 1-8

Passing

Orono: Chase 3-5-0-54; John Bapst: Keefe 6-19-2-43

Receiving

Orono: J. Simon 2-54, Millard 1-0; John Bapst: Pattison 5-26, Knarr 1-17

A ? 500 (est.)