BAR HARBOR – At least two keys of the Mount Desert Island football team’s run to Saturday’s Eastern Maine Class B championship game were learned during its lone setback of the 2008 season – on opening night, when tradition-laden Winslow handled the Trojans 30-12.

“We learned from our loss,” said senior running back and defensive back Terrence Jones. “We learned we don’t want to lose.”

MDI also learned that offensive success would rest not with the I formation in which it began the season, but in the T-formation that has brought out the best in three senior running backs – Jones, Odane Gaynor and Jasper Cousins.

“I lost a lot of sleep after that Winslow loss,” said MDI coach Mark Shields, “because I thought we matched up well against them. But we learned a lot from that game about what we could do offensively.

“In the second half we found that the T was the only thing working offensively. We left the field dejected about the loss, but feeling good about what we could do with the T offense.”

The Trojans took that knowledge on a long road trip to Bath in Week 2 of the season and came home with a 22-15 win over the same Morse team the Trojans will host at 1:30 p.m. in the regional final.

Turnovers were a decisive factor in that earlier meeting, as Jones alone had three interceptions – one he returned 60 yards for a touchdown – and a fumble recovery.

A week later, the new formation was fitting MDI to a T, as the Trojans returned home to blitz Waterville 35-14.

“When we went to Morse, we were still using both the I and T formations,” said Shields. “We still didn’t have a lot of our T offense in at that point, we were still trying to figure it out, but it all came together against Waterville in our third game.”

MDI has averaged 30.2 points per game since switching formations – all victories as the 8-1 Trojans enter their first championship game since 1992 boasting the best record in school history.

Jones and Gaynor have combined for 1,626 rushing yards, while Cousins is the team’s leading receiver as the trio works in tandem behind senior quarterback Tyler Crawford.

“This has all been one week at a time,” said Cousins after the Trojans’ 28-21 semifinal win over defending state champion Gardiner last week. “Our goal at first was to make it to the playoffs, and after we made the playoffs, then the next step was to get past the first round, and then the next step and the next step. We haven’t been looking past any step.”

That the Trojans have been true to that philosophy is rooted in at least two factors: their own recent rise from football obscurity – before back-to-back 5-4 seasons in 2006 and 2007, the program had achieved just one winning season since 1994 – and the depth within the Pine Tree Conference Class B ranks.

“I think a lot of it was because there wasn’t an opponent on our schedule that we believed was a sure win, because it’s been such a competitive conference this year,” said Shields.

One goal for the Trojans this weekend is to continue what they have started and not be content with what they’ve already accomplished – because there’s still much left to be achieved.

“These kids are really focused,” said Shields, “and we as a staff have worked to make sure they’ve been focused on the next opponent.

“We’ve told them that what-ifs usually send you home, and not to get caught up in beginning to reflect on the season, because there’s plenty of time for that later.”

While second-ranked MDI is the higher-seeded team in the regional final, fifth-rated Morse may be seen as the favorite heading into the game.

The 7-2 Shipbuilders haven’t lost since their earlier meeting against the Trojans, including two wins over top-ranked Leavitt of Turner Center and shutout victories over Gardiner and Winslow in the last five weeks alone.

Morse’s big, physical defense has not allowed a point in its last 18 quarters.

“You can tell they’re in much better physical condition now,” said Shields of Morse. “Their defensive front is really staying low and the linebackers are really flowing well to the ball.

“These are two very contrasting teams. They want to pound the ball, and we’re speedy and athletic with some big-play potential. It’s going to be an interesting matchup.”

eclark@bangordailynews.net

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