BANGOR – What does it say about the 2007 football forecast for John Bapst of Bangor when even a returning 1,000-yard rusher is being challenged for playing time in the preseason?

“Well, it tells me we have a lot of those ‘good problems’ to have, but the thing is, in a short preseason, it doesn’t give you a lot of time to solve them,” said fifth-year Bapst head coach Dan O’Connell. “We’re in the middle of it and I’m up at 3 o’clock in the morning wondering where I’m going to put these guys by the time we open the season.

“I’m just glad we’re now at the point at Bapst where we have those problems.”

Nineteen players return who started at least one game last year, but the Crusaders essentially return eight starters on offense and nine on defense.

Competition and experience abound on the Bapst roster, but senior tailback Nick Smith shouldn’t have to worry much about playing time. He’s one of the few sure things in preseason this year.

“The good thing about where we are now is we don’t have anybody who can just walk into practice day in and day out and say no one’s taking my job away from me,” O’Connell said.

O’Connell still didn’t know who his starting quarterback would be less than two weeks before the season opener – and he had three strong candidates all in the mix.

Seniors Kyle Gallant and Charlie Merritt are battling junior Derek Smith for the signal-calling job. Gallant and Merritt both started there last year, but Smith missed the season with a broken collarbone.

“All of them are athletes and they each bring different strengths to the position,” offensive coordinator Jason Coleman said about the QB competition. “They’re all such good athletes that they’ll all start somewhere.”

The offensive line is one of the team’s few question marks in terms of inexperience and graduation losses. About all coaches knew for sure halfway through preseason was that senior Micah Raymond, a returning guard, would start somewhere at guard or tackle along with junior Steve Kelly. Converted fullback Colin Gagnon also looked like a sure thing at the front of the Crusaders’ I-formation wingback offense.

Like Bapst’s 4-4 defensive front, the “I” lets the Crusaders utilize all their speed better.

“This is as much speed as we’ve had here since I’ve been here,” said O’Connell. “From the line standpoint, we can’t afford to just try to line up and push people over, but we can run with anyone. Defensively, we’d like to take advantage of it by bringing people from different angles and use different combinations to get to the football.”

To get to the top, the Crusaders know they must go through traditional powers such as defending Eastern champ Foxcroft Academy, Bucksport and Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln.

“Until we beat those teams, maybe we belong in that final four in the playoffs, but we can’t crack that top three until we do,” O’Connell said. “We haven’t beaten any of them the last two years, and in my tenure here we haven’t beaten Foxcroft or Bucksport at all.”

This could be the year they do.

JOHN BAPST CRUSADERS

2006 results: 5-5, lost in LTC Class C semifinals

Head coach: Dan O’Connell, 5th year

Key players: Micah Raymond, OL-DT, Sr.; Colin Gagnon, OL-MLB, Sr.; Nick Smith, TB, Sr.; Charlie Merritt, QB-RB-DE, Sr.; Kyle Gallant, QB-RB-LB-CB, Sr.; Bill Wetherbee, WB-DB, So.; Ryan Moriarty, OLB, Sr.; Derek Smith, QB-RB, Jr.; Taylor Dube, C, Jr.; Chase Huckstein, LB, Jr.

Outlook: The Crusaders have a lot of experience back along with versatility, which they’re already using with at least six starters slated to switch positions to strengthen the offensive and defensive units. Bapst will use a lot of stunting, trapping and shifting on offense as well as defense to utilize solid team speed. Defensively, it will be aggressive with various blitzes. The Crusaders should return to the playoffs.