BANGOR – The John Bapst High football team dropped a tough opening-game decision to Orono a year ago, a loss the Crusaders never really recovered from as they finished the 2004 season with a 3-6 record.

John Bapst’s defense set a quite different early tone at Cameron Stadium on Saturday night, limiting Dexter to 58 total yards and one first down – via penalty – to earn a 21-0 victory over the Tigers in their 2005 LTC opener.

“It’s definitely a better start,” said Crusaders senior tackle and linebacker Brian Leighton. “We’ve just got to keep working hard.”

John Bapst dominated the line of scrimmage against Dexter, which was a willing combatant but just couldn’t move the ball against a Crusaders’ front eight that also included Jimmy Ouellette, Mike Healy, Alex Ortiz, Micah Raymond, Brett Frye, Ryan Moriarty and Ben Amaral.

“They came to play,” said third-year John Bapst head coach Dan O’Connell of his team’s defense. “Our big thing this year is to get into the gaps, play hard, and get after people, and we did that tonight. We definitely have some things to work on the other side of the ball, but the defense was there for us.”

Each team committed five turnovers, but John Bapst was able to show balance in its offense, rushing for 174 yards and passing for 164.

Senior tailback Ron St. Pierre led the ground game with 108 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries, while Nick Smith added 49 yards on 12 tries.

Sophomore quarterback Kyle Gallant completed eight passes, with Anthony Ortiz making three catches for 68 yards and Smith adding a 63-yard reception.

John Bapst’s control of the game also was reflected in the fact it ran 67 plays compared to just 37 for Dexter.

“Last year we were in the same kind of boat,” said O’Connell of the 19-13 season-opening loss to Orono in 2004. “We were in there against a team we could compete with, and if we win the game we could climb through the league, and when we didn’t we struggled.

“Tonight we showed some signs early that we might waver, but the defense was there to bail us out. Then we made a couple of plays, and once we got the ball rolling on offense we did some good things.”

The Crusaders took a 7-0 lead on an 18-yard TD pass from Gallant to Anthony Ortiz with 8:59 left in the first half.

The score was set up by a wacky play that began when Gallant fumbled after being sacked by Dexter’s Steven Robinson on a fourth-and-15 play. Dexter recovered but then fumbled the ball, with Alex Ortiz recovering to give Bapst a new set of downs at the Dexter 31 on the change of possession.

Gallant found Ortiz open on the right side four plays later, and Ouellette followed with the first of his three successful extra-point kicks.

Ouellette recovered a fumble by Dexter’s Ben Spizuoco four minutes later to set up Bapst’s second score, a 1-yard run by St. Pierre with 1:39 left in the half. Dexter had held defensively to leave the Crusaders in a fourth-and-6 from the Tigers’ 12, but Bapst called timeout and then Gallant found St. Pierre open in the right flat for an 11-yard gain to the 1.

Bapst’s final score came on a 10-yard run by Amaral with 5:05 left in the third quarter. The Crusaders had been forced to punt, but Dexter was penalized for having 12 players on the field and Bapst regained possession near midfield. Amaral scored six plays later.

Spizuoco and Robinson paced the Dexter defense, while sophomore Dontai Keith had a pair of interceptions and Josh Cousins one interception for the Tigers.

Anthony Ortiz, Smith and Tom Keefe each had an interception for Bapst.

CRUSADERS 21, TIGERS 0

Dexter (0-1) 0 0 0 0 – 0

John Bapst (1-0) 0 14 7 0 – 21

JB-Ortiz 18 pass from Gallant (Ouellette kick)

JB-St. Pierre 1 run (Ouellette kick)

JB-Amaral 10 run (Ouellette

Dexter John Bapst

First downs 1 18

Rushing att.-yards 23-53 45-174

Passing comp.-att. 1-14 8-22

Passing yards 5 164

Total yards 58 338

Punts-avg. 7-30.4 1-31.0

Fumbles-lost 4-2 4-2

Intercepted by 3 3

Penalties-yards 6-42 8-59

Rushing

Dexter: Spizuoco 12-17, Greene 5-13, Robinson 4-11, S. Keith 1-6, Cousins 1-6; John Bapst: St. Pierre 17-108, Smith 12-49, Amaral 4-18, Solinger 7-7, Gallant 3-(-2), Keefe 2-(-6)

Passing

Dexter: Robinson 1-13-3-5, Spizuoco 0-1-0-0; John Bapst: Gallant 8-22-3-164

Receiving

Dexter: Cousins 1-5; John Bapst: Ortiz 3-68, Smith 1-63, Moriarty 1-15, St. Pierre 2-12, Keefe 1-6

A-450