FARMINGTON – Eighteen years had passed since Mt. Blue High School last won an Eastern Maine Class A football championship,

Few of this year’s Cougars were even born in 1987, but now they have a regional title to call their own after outlasting Skowhegan 26-24 in the title game at Caldwell Field on Friday night.

“This means so much to us,” said Mt. Blue senior tackle Tom Robinson. “Last year at this time, we were lifting weights getting ready for this season. It’s just been a year-round goal for us, and something we’ve worked our butts off for.”

Mt. Blue (9-1) will play for its first state championship since 1980 next Saturday at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland against the winner of today’s Western A final between defending state champion Bonny Eagle of Standish and Massabesic of Waterboro.

“It’s a dream come true,” said Mt. Blue coach Gary Parlin to his players after the game, “but we’ve got one more game to win.”

Skowhegan, which lost in the EM final for the second straight year, finishes 7-3.

“We threw everything we had at them, and just came up a little short,” said Skowhegan coach Mike Marston, whose team went 0-for-4 on two-point conversion tries. “To their credit, they beat us, and they deserve to go on. We wish them the best of luck.”

Skowhegan took its only lead in the fourth quarter with an 82-yard march that began with a 36-yard burst by Chambers and ended 12 plays later when Josh Whiting powered in from the 5 to give the Indians a 24-20 advantage with 6:58 left in the game.

But Mt. Blue, which didn’t possess the ball all that much after intermission, made the most of its next opportunity, marching 58 yards in 2 minutes, 11 seconds. Senior quarterback Mason Barker set up the score with a 25-yard keeper to the Skowhegan 23, and Toothaker broke an inside play outside and raced to the end zone on the next play to give the Cougars their championship advantage with 4:47 left.

We worked on getting upfield all week in practice,” Toothaker said. “They’re a fast defensive team, so I had to cut up inside first and then cut back to get to the outside.”

Toothaker finished with 105 rushing yards on 13 carries, while Barker completed 9 of 18 passes for 103 yards and rushed for 80 yards on 14 tries as Mt. Blue finished with 309 total yards.

Skowhegan finished with the statistical advantage, amassing 435 total yards – 328 on the ground. Josh Whiting rushed for 152 yards and three touchdowns on 17 tries, while Chambers finished with 106 rushing yards and 68 more yards on nine pass receptions. Senior quarterback Mike LaCasse completed 15 of 24 passes for 107 yards, while sophomore Zach Whiting, subbing for the injured Lucas Cole, rushed for 54 yards and made three catches for 39 yards.

A 60-yard punt by John Moloney that was downed at the Skowhegan 1 by Mt. Blue’s Mike Cayer gave the Cougars an initial field-position advantage that produced an early lead.

After an exchange of turnovers, a subsequent Skowhegan punt gave Mt. Blue possession at the Indians’ 39. Toothaker then raced down the right sideline on first down and used a key block along the sideline by Moloney to get into the end zone and give the Cougars a 6-0 lead with 4:24 left in the opening quarter.

COUGARS 26, INDIANS 24

Skowhegan (7-3) 0 6 12 6 – 24

Mt. Blue (9-1) 14 0 6 6 – 26

MB-Toothaker 39 run (pass failed)

MB-Barker 18 run (Lowe pass from Barker)

S-Chambers 7 pass from LaCasse (rush failed)

S-J. Whiting 2 run (rush failed)

MB-Moloney 6 pass from Barker (kick blocked)

S-J. Whiting 78 run (rush failed)

S-J. Whiting 5 run (rush failed)

MB-Toothaker 23 run (rush failed)

Skowhegan Mt. Blue

First downs 23 14

Rushing att.-yards 51-328 32-206

Passing comp.-att. 15-24 9-18

Passing yards 107 103

Total yards 435 309

Punts-avg. 2-23.0 3-48.0

Fumbles-lost 3-1 1-1

Intercepted by 2 0

Penalties-yards 1-5 8-40

Rushing

Skowhegan: J. Whiting 17-152, Chambers 21-106, Z. Whiting 8-54, LaCasse 5-16; Mt. Blue: Toothaker 13-105, Barker 14-80, Lowe 3-14, Johnson 2-7

Passing

Skowhegan: LaCasse 15-24-0-107; Mt. Blue: Barker 9-18-2-103

Receiving

Skowhegan: Chambers 9-68. Z. Whiting 6-39; Mt. Blue: Lowe 2-65, Trask 4-24, Toothaker 2-8, Moloney 1-6

A-2,800