DOVER-FOXCROFT – When the bell tolls at Foxcroft Academy, it tolls for victory.

And the nearly 150-year-old victory bell that hangs outside the school’s gymnasium is getting more use than ever these days.

Not since October 2001 has the Ponies’ football team lost a game at home, and in the aftermath of each win comes the chance for players to celebrate in a way most symbolic and fairly unique, with a few ringing tugs of a rope hooked to the bell.

“It’s very prideful to ring that bell,” said senior end Jon Geiger. “It’s special to have the chance to do it like other players have rung the bell before you.”

Top-ranked Foxcroft Academy, 10-0 this season and winner of its last 38 games at Oakes Field, hopes to ring its victory bell again Saturday afternoon after it hosts second-seeded John Bapst of Bangor (9-1) in the Eastern Maine Class C championship game.

This will mark the seventh straight appearance in the regional final for Foxcroft, which is seeking its third consecutive Eastern C crown and fifth in the last sixth years.

“I think we’ve been very fortunate that we’ve had some very good athletes come through our school system for the last 10 years and there’s been stability in our program,” said 18th-year Ponies’ head coach Paul Withee. “A lot of our kids play in our youth program and our middle school program and then in our high school program. We try to instill confidence in them and really believe in them as athletes and players.”

At the high school level, that mentoring process goes beyond the coach-to-player relationships.

“I think it’s a pride factor within our team,” said Withee. “The older kids are very committed to weight lifting and working hard and being good leaders. When the younger kids see what type of work ethic some of these kids have and realize they want to continue the pride and the tradition of the program, as freshmen and sophomores they’ll start getting in the weight room.”

That effort has produced impressive results, in part because instead of looking as the program’s past achievements as a daunting legacy to live up to, current players merely see it as an opportunity to add to that legacy.

“In middle school, you go to the games, you kind of half-watch and see what they can do, and you’re like ‘I can’t wait til I’m there, I can’t wait til I’m the one running for touchdowns,'” said senior fullback-linebacker Ben Provost.

“It’s not pressure at all,” added senior end Evan Worthing. “It’s more like, ‘Look at what they’re doing, I can’t wait until I get there.'”

Members of this year’s senior class, like their recent predecessors at Foxcroft, have yet to lose a home game throughout their football careers, though they did receive a close call in a season-opening 13-12 win over John Bapst on Aug. 31.

“Both teams made mistakes in that first game, it was a very typical first game,” said Geiger. “But after so many games since then, we’ve improved a lot. Both teams have improved a lot.”

And now, more than two months later, the stakes are much higher – a berth in the state championship game.

“When you get to the Eastern Maine it’s way more excitement, way more adrenaline, way more everything,” said Worthing. “It’s really cool.”