BANGOR – In a state-of-the-art high school football game that featured 54 pass attempts and 451 yards through the air, a 3-yard run was the key play Saturday night as John Bapst of Bangor outlasted Rockland 33-24 at Cameron Stadium.

That modest run by Bill Wetherbee came on fourth-and-two from the Bapst 42-yard line with 5:31 to play and gave the Crusaders a crucial first down that helped defuse an inspired Rockland comeback from a 27-8 third-quarter deficit.

John Bapst then used its newly regained momentum to add a badly needed insurance touchdown when Wetherbee scored from the 5 to give the Crusaders their final nine-point lead with 3:43 left.

“The way Rockland was throwing the ball, there wasn’t a doubt in my mind about going for it,” said John Bapst coach Dan O’Connell. “They were starting to pick up momentum and were starting to make plays, and we weren’t getting as much pressure on the quarterback. I just thought we had to get it now, and fortunately our O-line from that play on stepped up huge.”

That old-school ending defied the new-age nature of the first 31/2 quarters as both teams used spread offenses with three- and four-receiver sets to overwhelm the opposing defenses.

John Bapst’s Derek Smith hit 15 of 23 passes for 231 yards and three TDs, two to Wetherbee, who had nine catches for 175 yards and rushed for 66 yards on 18 carries.

Fullback Chase Huckestein added 140 rushing yards on 12 carries as the 2-1 Crusaders gained 243 of their 474 total yards on the ground.

That effort helped propel them to a seemingly comfortable lead after Coby Boutot scored on a 1-yard run to give Rockland an 8-0 edge one play after Sam Weiss intercepted a option pass by Huckestein on Bapst’s first possession of the game.

But Wetherbee made a juggling 33-yard touchdown catch with 2:33 left in the first quarter, and after Bapst called time with 2 seconds left in the period to keep the wind at his back, Doug Dieuveuil kicked a 28-yard field goal to give the Crusaders a 10-8 lead.

Smith threw two TD passes in the second quarter, a 51-yard strike to Wetherbee with 6:48 left and a 15-yarder to Chris Fogler to cap a 10-play, 80-yard march with 20.5 seconds to play as John Bapst took a 24-8 lead.

Dieuveuil kicked a 23-yard field goal 1:17 into the second half to give the Crusaders their largest lead before coach Woody Moore’s Rockland club mounted a major comeback.

Dylan Meklin (15 of 31 passing, 220 yards) hit Nick Baudanza with a 15-yard TD pass on the final play of the third quarter, and Meklin rushed for the two-point conversion after an alert lateral by Weiss, who had been stopped short of the goal line.

After Dieuveuil was short on a 33-yard field-goal try, Rockland drove 80 yards to close within 27-24. Meklin hit Baudanza and Dave McGuire on back-to-back completions of 28 and 27 yards before finding Baudanza for an 8-yard scoring strike with 6:51 to play.

Baudanza finished with seven catches for 132 yards for 1-2 Rockland. Weiss rushed for 46 yards on 10 carries.

eclark@bangordailynews.net

990-8045

CRUSADERS 33, TIGERS 24

Rockland (1-2) 8 0 8 8 – 24

John Bapst (2-1) 10 14 3 6 – 33

R-Boutot 1 run (S. Weiss rush)

JB-Wetherbee 33 pass from Smith (Dieuveuil kick)

JB-Dieuveuil 28 field goal

JB-Wetherbee 51 pass from Smith (Dieuveuil kick)

JB-Fogler 15 pass from Smith (Dieuveuil kick)

JB-Dieuveuil 23 field goal

R-Baudanza 15 pass from Meklin (Meklin kick)

R-Baudanza 8 pass from Meklin (Searle pass from Meklin)

JB-Wetherbee 5 run (kick blocked)

Rockland John Bapst

First downs 17 19

Rushing att.-yards 22-51 39-243

Passing comp.-att. 15-31 15-24

Passing yards 220 231

Total yards 271 474

Punts-avg. 4-27.3 0

Fumbles-lost 2-0 4-1

Intercepted by 1 1

Penalties-yards 4-38 5-56

Rushing

Rockland: S. Weiss 10-46, Boutot 3-10, Meklin 9-(minus 5); John Bapst: Huckestein 12-140, Wetherbee 18-66, Smith 9-37

Passing

Rockland: Meklin 15-31-1-220; John Bapst: Smith 15-23-0-231; Huckestein 0-1-1-0

Receiving

Rockland: Baudanza 7-132, McGuire 2-35, S. Weiss 3-33, Searle 2-13, Boutot 1-7; John Bapst: Wetherbee 9-175, Hass 3-33, Fogler 2-20, Huckestein 1-3

A-500 (est.)