Colchester — It is Jax Higgins’ pregame custom to attach a biblical verse somewhere on his Waterford High School uniform. His choice Saturday came from Philippians 4:13, which begins with the words “I can do all things.”

Rather prophetic. And there were certainly no arguments forthcoming from anybody who watched him play this football game.

Higgins, a quarterback/cornerback, ran for 253 yards and two touchdowns and was part of a renaissance on defense, which has morphed from yielding 33 points per game last season to pitching a shutout at Bacon Academy/Lyman Memorial, 20-0.

The Lancers are 2-0.

“Last year on defense didn’t go well,” Higgins said. “But three goal-line stands today, that’s 21 points. That’s the margin of victory. We still have some things to clean up on offense, like my fumble today.”

To be clear: The Lancers didn’t technically have a goal-line stand, but stopped Bacon three times inside the 10. And Higgins’ fumble in the first half was his lone hiccup of the game.

“Jax is unbelievable in every facet,” Waterford coach Zeth Nolda said. “He is the true leader here. This team will follow him wherever he wants to go.”

And yet while Higgins’ contributions to the offense were obvious, the defensive shutout wasn’t merely a team thing, but an homage to endurance — as there were few substitutions. Linemen Sam Vasquez, Denatto Barnhill, Noah Sullivan and Alex Dyjak joined linebackers Gabe VanOverloop and Porter Watson along with Higgins, Parker Spencer, Gabe Lombardi and Cole Baumgartner in the secondary, all making plays when required.

Baumgartner had a sack and an interception and VanOverloop stopped Bacon’s Mason Leak on fourth-and-1 early in the fourth period at the Waterford 10. One play later, Higgins went 93 yards for a backbreaking score.

“Our defense has a lot of juniors and seniors. There’s some maturity there,” Nolda said. “They understand how important this thing is. As freshmen, we got them and we’ve talked about turning this around. Today, we made all the necessary stops.”

Not that Bacon (0-2) didn’t have its moments. The Bobcats amassed nearly 200 team rushing yards, but stalled repeatedly for various reasons in Waterford territory. Leak led Bacon with 67 yards.

Higgins gave Waterford a 7-0 lead with 7:47 left in the first quarter on a 2-yard run. Waterford made it 14-0 on Higgins’ 24-yard scoring run with 1:49 left in the first half. Spencer set up the score with a highlight reel, one-handed, 16-yard reception off a tipped ball.

Spencer also rushed for 60 yards.

The Lancers continue their longstanding rivalry at Montville next week — their third road game to begin the season. Bacon/Lyman plays Thursday at unbeaten Ledyard.

v.fulkerson@theday.com