When the Foxcroft Academy Ponies complete their 130-mile motorcoach ride to Portland around noon today, they’ll be on familiar artificial terrain.

Championship Saturday in the Maine high school football world rarely fails to include the Ponies, at least since the state finals in Classes A, B and C all were moved to Fitzpatrick Stadium’s FieldTurf in 2002.

Only once has Foxcroft not been part of the festivities, three years ago when a two-point conversion try in the final minute of the 2004 Eastern Maine Class C final that would have turned defeat into victory came up inches short.

And while the Ponies face the longest bus ride of any team that’s making the trip to Portland, the opportunity to play in front of a large crowd in a stadium setting with a gold ball on the line is worth the travel.

“I love it,” said Foxcroft senior end Jon Geiger. “It’s crazy. The atmosphere’s unreal. There’s so many people there and the game’s on TV, so you feel pretty special.”

Foxcroft (11-0) will face Boothbay (10-1) for the Class C title at 2:30 p.m. in the second game of the day. The tripleheader begins at 11:06 a.m. with the Class A final between Lawrence of Fairfield (11-0) and Bonny Eagle of Standish (11-0) and concludes with the 6 p.m. Class B game between Gardiner (10-1) and Mountain Valley of Rumford (10-1).

In Class C, Foxcroft will be challenged by Boothbay’s double-wing offense, an attack that has become somewhat prominent in other classes around the state as used by the likes of Skowhegan, Gorham and Messalonskee of Oakland.

Foxcroft hasn’t faced the double-wing since its 2002 state final against Boothbay, when the Seahawks defied the run-oriented nature of the offense to pass for three touchdowns in a 25-20 victory.

“They just try to meticulously go down the field against you,” said 18th-year Foxcroft coach Paul Withee. “They run the football, and then when a cornerback or safety steps up to support the run defense, they throw the ball down the field.

“We’ve got to really stay disciplined.”

Quarterbacks Jamie Nason of Foxcroft and Sam Cook of Boothbay throw when needed, but effective ground games spark both offenses. Foxcroft uses a stable of backs led by seniors Jerod Rideout, Shane Adkins and Ben Provost. Tim Stover and Dylan Brandt are the wingbacks for Boothbay behind fullback Shawn McDuff.

“Foxcroft is athletic, physical and well coached,” said 15th-year Boothbay coach Tim Rice. “From what I’ve seen, they really stay on their blocks and their running backs run to the holes hard.”

Foxcroft’s defense has allowed just 6.2 points per game, with linebackers Rideout and Provost the leading tacklers during the regular season. Geiger and end Evan Worthing are among the LTC’s leaders in QB sacks, while safety Jason Gould has four interceptions in two playoff games.

Boothbay has yielded 13.4 points per game, and Rice believes that defensive unit led by linebacker Sewall Maddocks and cornerback Chris Graves has been pivotal to the team’s overall success.

“The key this year has been our defense, it’s been outstanding,” he said. “We found a scheme that fit our kids and went with it.”

In Class A, Lawrence hasn’t lost since 2005, a run of 22 consecutive victories that includes a 14-13 victory over Gorham in last year’s state final.

Now the champs are back, trying to make it two in a row.

“It’s very, very exciting,” said Lawrence coach John Hersom after the Bulldogs defeated Bangor 27-13 in the Eastern Maine final. “These kids have worked tremendously hard. They’ve gotten a lot of notoriety from last season and carried it over into this season, and there was always the question of whether or not we were going to be able to get down there again.

“They’ve had that on their shoulders all season, and to their credit, their kids really handled all of that and now we’re able to make it down there again, so we’re pretty happy about that.”

Lawrence is led by senior quarterback Jack Hersom, who has passed for more than 1,200 yards and rushed for more than 600 yards. Wideout Nick Nelson had seven catches for 115 yards and a touchdown in the win over Bangor, while Shawn Champagne, Devon Costigan and fullback Isaiah Underwood are all top-notch rushers.

Bonny Eagle, the state champion in 2004 and 2005, is 20-1 over the past two seasons.

The Scots have plenty of firepower of their own, led by junior quarterback Nate Doehler. Josh Ruby is the leading rusher behind a big, talented offensive line, while ends John Onesti and Ricky Hoyt are the top receiving threats.

In Class B, most of the publicity surrounding this game has centered on the monitoring of several Gardiner players by a nurse from the Maine Centers for Disease Control during the week for skin infections.

Those unidentified players, who include some starters, have been checked for possible staph infections, but are expected to play against Mountain Valley as long as the affected areas are covered.

These cases came to light earlier this week after a team screening and may be linked to several cases of staph infection earlier in the season. In that situation, one Gardiner player was diagnosed with MRSA, or methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, a bacterial infection that is resistant to some antibiotics. That player has since recovered, as have several other players who had staph infections at the time.

Mountain Valley officials have been updated on the current situation, and Falcons coach Jim Aylward said he was satisfied with how Gardiner has handled the situation.

Mountain Valley is after its third state title in the last four years behind the backfield tandem of Justin Staires and Matt Laubauskas, who have combined for more than 2,500 rushing yards. Staires, a junior tailback, has nearly 1,700 yards and 29 touchdowns this fall.

Gardiner, seeking its first gold ball since 1985, is led by the 1-2 offensive punch of quarterback Kyle Stilphen and running back Bass Chadwick. Middle linebacker Brad Carleton led the Pine Tree Conference Class B ranks in tackles during the regular season.