Energized offensive line powering Crusaders

John Bapst of Bangor’s 22-20 LTC football victory over Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln on Saturday night featured defensive resilience and offensive balance.

The Crusaders limited MA’s potent offense to 76 rushing yards until its final drive of the game, then stopped the Lynx on four plays inside the 10-yard line to preserve their first win of the season.

On offense, Bapst passed for 140 yards and rushed for 137 while rallying from an 18-9 third-quarter deficit.

Quarterback Kyle Gallant completed 15 of 27 passes, including six for 63 yards to Aaron Healey and a go-ahead 2-yard TD pass to Shane Hass with 8:05 left in the game. Senior tailback Nick Smith rushed for 108 yards, including 43 on a third-quarter touchdown run.

But much of the credit for all that statistical success goes to the guys who don’t amass the big numbers, those along the line of scrimmage.

A group led by Micah Raymond, Colin Gagnon, Steve Kelly, Tyler Chamberlain and converted quarterback Charlie Merritt held its own against a powerful MA front line, enabling the Crusaders’ playmakers to make enough plays to knock off a veteran Lynx team seeking its third straight trip to the Eastern Maine Class C final.

“The Lincoln line is great, but our line just stepped up and took it beyond,” said Gallant. “All of the credit should go to them. Pass blocking, run blocking, those trenches were deep. They did an awesome job.”

“As we all know it’s a thankless job, but those kids we’ve got playing up front have worked hard, they’ve jelled together, they honor their assignments and they just play hard and they play together,” added John Bapst coach Dan O’Connell. “I couldn’t be more proud of both the offensive and defensive lines for the job they did [Saturday night].”

Success didn’t come easily, particularly on offense. The Crusaders mustered just five yards with two first-quarter possessions, and managed just one drive that produced a first down until the final minutes of the first half, when Gallant took Bapst 68 yards on eight plays – hitting Chase Huckestein with a 12-yard TD pass to cut the gap to 12-9 at intermission.

“Once we were able to get the ball to Aaron Healey a couple of times, they started to overplay him a little bit, Kyle made a couple of great reads on the back side and, quite honestly, it opened up the middle for us where we weren’t having much success early,” said O’Connell.

“Then we were able to hit them inside a little bit, bring them back in with the power-I, and then spread them out again, and so we kind of kept them off balance and that was the key to being able to hold onto the football.”

The win leaves John Bapst a satisfying 1-1 through two weeks of the season, satisfying because in Foxcroft and Mattanawcook the Crusaders already have played the teams that have met in the last two regional finals.

But a look at the standings suggests that the work is far from done, because John Bapst and Mattanawcook Academy are among six LTC teams that are 1-1 and tied for third place behind Foxcroft and Orono, both 2-0.

“There’s a festive atmosphere right now because of from where the program has come, but we have to keep in mind that we’re 1-1,” said O’Connell, whose team made its first postseason appearance since 1997 last fall. “But obviously with playing Foxcroft and Mattanawcook back to back at the beginning of the year, to come out of that in this league 1-1 is tremendous. Those are two great teams.”

South Portland job still open

One of the more controversial coaching vacancies in the state remains unfilled after Monday night’s South Portland school board meeting.

Former Fort Kent coach Tim Farrar was nominated to replace Tony Dibiase as the Red Riots’ boys varsity basketball coach, but by a 3-3 vote the board opted not to accept Farrar’s nomination.

That leaves the vacancy open at least until the board’s next scheduled meeting on Oct. 10.

Dibiase had guided the Red Riots for the last 17 years. Since coaching his first varsity basketball game at Machias in 1977, he has amassed 392 victories and three state championship, one each at Gorham (1982), Portland (1986) and South Portland (1992).

Dibiase remains South Portland’s varsity baseball coach and also wants to return to the basketball post but learned this summer that his basketball contract would not be renewed despite being told by school officials earlier in the year that he would be recommended for renewal.

Farrar had been Fort Kent’s boys varsity coach for the last four years, guiding the program through its transition from Class B to Class C in 2006 and to a pair of tournament appearances at the Bangor Auditorium.

Fort Kent advanced to the EM quarterfinals for the second time in three years last winter. The Warriors finished sixth in Eastern Maine Class C with a 6-12 record, then defeated No. 11 George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill 48-40 in the preliminary round before falling to No. 3 Washington Academy 74-65 in the quarterfinals.

Farrar resigned his coaching and teaching post earlier this year, and he and his family moved back to his native southwestern Maine.