BANGOR – As John Bapst football coach Barry Terrill took the handshakes, pats-on-the-back and words of encouragement after Saturday night’s game against Mount Desert Island, he put the final result in perspective.

“You can take some positive things from a loss,” he said. “Obviously you’re not satisfied. … But Bapst has been at a low point for 21/2 years and now there’s some excitement around the team. The kids played with a lot of enthusiasm.”

No, the Crusaders didn’t break their now 11-game losing streak. And they were only competitive for one half. But in one night Bapst was two points shy of its entire point total from last season. And there were other good signs in MDI’s 44-20 victory at Cameron Stadium.

It was a promising night for both programs. MDI, which is continuing its rise despite injuries to two of its top running backs, gave the ball to sophomore John Lewis, who scored four touchdowns in the mutual season-opener.

Lewis rushed for 207 yards on 31 carries. He credited right tackle Brad Russell, right guard Andy Wade, tight end Greg Fellis, center Jake Buck and left guard Chris Perry.

“They opened up the holes for me,” he said.

MDI halfback Basil Mahaney did not start on offense for MDI because of a knee injury and wingback David Zabala was dealing with a concussion he suffered in a car accident. With those two unavailable, the offensive load fell to fullback Lewis.

“John’s an excellent running back,” said MDI coach George “Toogie” McKay. “He’s played like that since the fourth or fifth game last year when he became the starter.”

Mahaney did play on defense, and that’s where the Trojans needed the senior linebacker. MDI held a slim 16-14 lead at halftime.

“Our middle linebackers weren’t coming up to hit and they were just pushing us off the ball,” Lewis said. “So we set back, made some adjustments, and I thought it worked.”

McKay changed MDI’s base defense from a 4-4, which the Crusaders had been able to pick apart, to a 5-3. Bapst didn’t respond to the switch, and MDI scored 28 points in the second half (Lewis ran for one touchdown in the third quarter, another in the fourth, Brian Alley scored on an eight-yard run, and Ryan Stillwell returned a punt 88 yards for the Trojans’ last touchdown.”

“We hadn’t really used the [5-3] … but [Bapst] had a real good scheme against our 4-4 and so we had to change on the fly,” McKay said. “I’ve coached a lot of teams that couldn’t have made that adjustment, but there are a lot of seniors out here and they really understand the game.”

Bapst looked like the struggling team of old on its first drive of the game, in which the Crusaders ended up 11 yards back from where they started. And to make things worse, Lewis scored on MDI’s first play of the game.

But John Bapst turned things around. The Crusaders ran. They passed. They converted on fourth down. Pat Healy reeled off an 18-yard run to put Bapst at MDI’s 31-yard line, and Alex Rand chugged down the left sideline on the next play for a touchdown that tied the game.

“It seemed like early on we were getting a good offensive line surge and our backs were getting to the line quick,” Terrill said. “We popped a couple of big runs and the kids were just sky-high.”

TROJANS 44, CRUSADERS 20

MDI (1-0) 16 0 14 14 ? 44

John Bapst (0-1) 8 6 0 6 ? 20

M ? Lewis 4 run (Tripp rush)

J ? Rand 20 run (Keefe pass to Carey)

M ? Lewis 9 run (Lewis rush)

J ? Healy 9 run (rush failed)

M ? Lewis 12 run (Tripp pass to Fellis)

M ? Lewis 3 run (pass failed)

M ? Alley 8 run (Tripp rush)

M ? Stillwell 88 punt return (rush failed)

J ? Rand 1 run (rush failed)

MDI John Bapst

First downs 13 12

Rushing att.-yards 40-242 44-193

Passing comp.-att. 5-13 2-5

Passing yards 67 19

Total yards 309 212

Punts-avg. 3-26.3 4-37.2

Fumbles-lost 3-0 2-1

Intercepted by 0 0

Penalties-yards 7-75 5-40

Rushing

MDI: Lewis 31-207, Alley 2-17, Tripp 2-12, Mahaney 2-6, Joy 1-4, Fellis 1-1, Beaudoin 1-(-5); John Bapst: Rand 13-118, Healy 18-93, Cushman 7-5, Keefe 6-(-23)

Passing

MDI: Tripp 5-13-0-67; John Bapst: Keefe 2-5-0-19

Receiving

MDI: Fellis 3-32, Lewis 1-22, Dow 1-13; John Bapst: Carey 1-13, Cushman 1-6

A?300 (est.)