BANGOR – The John Bapst football team opened some eyes in defeat in its season opener, a 13-12 loss to Foxcroft Academy at Dover-Foxcroft on Labor Day weekend.

The Crusaders backed up that effort in victory Saturday night, holding off Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln 22-20 in an LTC clash at Cameron Stadium.

“I’m pretty sure we’ve proved a lot of people wrong, playing Dover close and beating Lincoln,” said John Bapst quarterback Kyle Gallant.

The Crusaders used offensive balance to control the clock and keep the ball away from MA playmakers Derek Libbey and Brady Vose just long enough to rally from an 18-9 deficit.

Gallant completed 15 of 27 passes to six different receivers for 140 yards and two touchdowns, while senior tailback Nick Smith rushed for 108 yards and a touchdown and Aaron Healey caught six passes for 63 yards.

“We were able to keep them off balance and that was the key to being able to hold onto the football,” said John Bapst coach Dan O’Connell.

John Bapst also battled Mattanawcook’s talented front line to a stalemate, limiting Vose and Libbey to a combined 132 rushing yards.

“We knew that coming in Lincoln had great skill players and a big front line, but the great thing is we have the same thing,” said Gallant. “So we knew if we knew if we took care of the little things and didn’t make mistakes we were going to win.

“The big reason we lost at Dover is we didn’t take care of the little things. The little things got us the win tonight.”

Vose (18 carries, 85 yards) scored on a 7-yard run to give MA an 18-9 lead with 7:42 left in the third quarter.

But Smith countered with a 43-yard quick opener to the end zone to cut the gap to 18-16 just 70 seconds later.

John Bapst then capitalized on the game’s only turnover, a halfback option pass by Vose that Smith intercepted and returned to the Crusaders’ 46. John Bapst then embarked on a 15-play drive that featured two fourth-down conversions and ended when Gallant found Shane Hass open in the right flat for a 2-yard TD pass with 8:05 left in the game.

MA went three-and-out on its next possession, but got the ball back at its 30 with 4:30 left after a John Bapst punt.

The Lynx faced a third-and-4 at the 36 before Libbey and Vose alternated gains of 10, 16, 13 and 17 yards to move to the Bapst 8 with less than three minutes left.

But with just one timeout left, MA went to the air, and four straight incompletions ended the drive.

“I think the kids realized we had 8 yards between us winning and last week happening all over again,” said O’Connell. “We made a couple of stops on first and second downs, they needed to throw the ball and we made a couple of big plays and were able to get the ball back.”

Gallant took an intentional safety out of punt formation with 1.1 seconds for the game’s final points.

MA (1-1) took a 6-0 lead on its second possession of the game when Libbey hit Peter Coggins with a 5-yard touchdown pass.

Gallant countered with a 27-yard field goal midway through the second quarter, but Vose stretched MA’s lead to 12-3 with a 71-yard punt return for a score with 3:12 left in the half.

But Gallant orchestrated an eight-play, 68-yard march just before intermission, the final play a 12-yard TD pass to Chase Huckestein to close the gap to 12-9 with 39 seconds left. Gallant was 5-of-7 passing on the drive, including three passes to Healey for 45 yards.

“Now we’re playing with the good teams in this league,” said O’Connell, “and when you play good football against good teams it can go either way.

“Last week it didn’t go our way. This week it did.”

CRUSADERS 22, LYNX 20

Mattanawcook (1-1) 6 6 6 2 – 20

John Bapst (1-1) 0 9 7 6 – 22

MA-Coggins 13 pass from Libbey (rush failed)

JB-Gallant 27 field goal

MA-Vose 71 punt return (pass failed)

JB-Huckestein 12 pass from Gallant (kick blocked)

MA-Vose 7 run (pass failed)

JB-N. Smith 43 run (Gallant kick)

JB-Hass 2 pass from Gallant (pass failed)

MA-Safety, Gallant tackled in end zone

Mattanawcook Acad. John Bapst

First downs 9 13

Rushing att.-yards 30-139 34-137

Passing comp.-att. 3-10 15-27

Passing yards 47 140

Total yards 186 277

Punts-avg. 4-32.3 3-31.3

Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-0

Intercepted by 0 1

Penalties-yards 4-37 6-41

Rushing

Mattanawcook Acad.: Vose 18-85, Libbey 9-47, Murchison 1-3, Flanders 1-2, Coggins 1-2; John Bapst: N. Smith 22-108, Wetherbee 5-17, Gallant 7-12

Passing

Mattanawcook Acad.: Libbey 3-8-0-47, Vose 0-1-1-0, Coggins 0-1-0-0; John Bapst: Gallant 15-27-0-140

Receiving

Mattanawcook Acad.: Gardner 1-18, White 1-16, Coggins 1-13; John Bapst: Healey 6-63, Moriarty 2-23, Huckestein 2-17, N. Smith 2-13, Hass 2-11, Bragdon 1-13

A-750 (est.)