BANGOR – Two games into the 2002 football season, the Orono Red Riots have already attained two-thirds of the victory total they had all of last season.

The 2-0 Riots showed what a difference a year of seasoning, added depth, and added talent can make as they built a big early lead and then coasted to a 34-9 victory over winless John Bapst on crisp, starry Saturday night at Cameron Stadium.

The Riots did it with a well-balanced offense – something they had barely a hint of last year.

“Now we have a passing game where last year we struggled throwing the ball, and now that we can throw the ball and keep people from jamming the line of scrimmage, that’s really big,” said Orono head coach Wally Covell.

Junior tailback Lance Cowan led the way for the Riots with four touchdowns, 131 yards on nine carries, and another 64 yards with two receptions.

“We feel we have a stronger team than last year and we think we can really improve,” said Cowan. “Playoffs are a goal, but we have to take things one week at a time.”

That’s exactly the same approach first-year coach Rob Zartarian is using with his young Crusaders, who saw their losing streak get extended to 33 games.

“That’s our biggest obstacle,” Zartarian said. “One mistake happens and their attitude is ‘Oh my God, here we go again,’ so it’s just letting them believe in themselves.”

Orono coaches also viewed the streak with concern.

“This is a rivalry. They don’t like us and we don’t like them,” Covell said. “And then you worry about the streak because kids look at the scores and the temptation is to take them lightly, but you can’t do that with anyone.”

He needn’t have worried much as Orono never gave the Crusaders a chance to build momentum. Bapst followed up a 7-yard run on the game’s first play from scrimmage with an interception, which Ryan Levesque returned 19 yards to the JB 13-yard line. The next play saw Nick Dwyer take it in for a score just 68 seconds into the game.

Dan Leighton helped Bapst answer by capping an 11-play drive with a 27-yard field goal. The Riots came right back, though, by driving 82 yards in 11 plays and scoring on Cowan’s catch of a 32-yard TD pass from Georgia transfer student Jason Coleman (73 yards) on fourth-and-10.

Orono made it 27-3 with back-to-back drives late in the second quarter. Coleman again hooked up with Cowan for a 32-yard TD strike with 2:17 left in the half to cap a 70-yard drive in seven plays, and almost two minutes later, Cowan intercepted a pass which tipped off intended receiver Winfield Swanton at the O-45 and raced all the way back for a score.

Orono’s last score came as quickly as the first. After a 9-yard return of the second half kickoff, Cowan took the handoff and sped off right tackle for a 73-yard TD run 19 seconds into the half.

Bapst’s touchdown closed out the game as sophomore back George Keefe scored on a 2-yard rush up the middle on fourth-and-goal with 11 seconds left. The score capped a 10-play, 55-yard drive.

“We have a young team and we’re coming along,” Zartarian said. “The way I look at it, we scored twice tonight after scoring once last week, so we’re heading in the right direction.”

RED RIOTS 34, CRUSADERS 9

Orono (2-0) 14 13 7 0 ? 34

John Bapst (0-2) 3 0 0 6 ? 9

O ? Dwyer 13 run (Miller kick)

JB ? Leighton 27 field goal

O ? Cowan 32 pass from Coleman (Miller kick)

O ? Cowan 32 pass from Coleman (kick blocked)

O ? Cowan 55 interception return (Miller kick)

O ? Cowan 73 run (Miller kick)

JB ? G. Keefe 2 run (rush failed)

Orono John Bapst

First downs 12 9

Rushing att.-yards 37-257 39-101

Passing comp.-att. 3-6 4-14

Passing yards 73 83

Total yards 330 184

Punts-avg. 1-36.0 3-24.7

Fumbles-lost 3-2 3-2

Intercepted by 3 0

Penalties-yards 13-85 9-63

Rushing

Orono: Cowan 9-131, Dwyer 8-45, Simon 5-37, Levesque 3-19, Nazmy 2-17, Coleman 4-11, Hedrick 1-1, Fullwood 1-1, Tyne 4-(-5); John Bapst: G. Keefe 7-32, Healy 7-28, Rand 6-23, Pattison 1-8, Tr. Carey 2-8, Amaral 2-6, Alvarez 2-6, J. Keefe 12-(-10)

Passing

Orono: Coleman 3-6-0-73; John Bapst: J. Keefe 4-14-3-83

Receiving

Orono: Cowan 2-64, Miller 1-9; John Bapst: Reed 1-33, Healy 2-31, Th. Carey 1-19

A? 400 (est.)