FARMINGTON – Aron Chambers had the ball, more than 80 yards of open space in front of him and little to slow him down but the gust of wind in his face.

Given that conditions at Caldwell Field Friday night weren’t conducive to scoring a lot of points, he figured he’d better make the most of it.

Chambers’ 83-yard fumble return for a touchdown in the first quarter gave Skowhegan all the points it would need. The defense took care of the rest, sending the seventh-seeded Indians to a 20-0 upset over the third-seeded Cougars in the Pine Tree Conference semifinals.

It is the second time in four years Skowhegan has pulled off a playoff upset at Caldwell Field. The Indians also shut out the Cougars in 2001, 14-0.

Skowhegan will face No. 2 Bangor for the PTC championship next week.

Chambers’ touchdown came on the Cougars’ second possession of the game. With the stiff wind knocking down a Skowhegan punt after just 11 yards, Mt. Blue (8-2) took over at the Indians’ 25. Seven plays later, they found themselves facing fourth-and-six at the 10. The Cougars called a bootleg by QB Mason Barker, who was quickly met in the backfield by two Skowhegan defenders.

“We put in a play that if they went in motion, I would go to the end to defend the bootleg. He bootlegged and he didn’t see me coming,” Chambers said. “I hit him and couldn’t quite wrap him up, but Josh Whiting came and popped him and the ball went loose.”

Chambers scooped it up at the 17 and raced down the right side virtually untouched to put Skowhegan up for good with 1:12 left in the quarter.

It was the first of four Mt. Blue possessions that died in the red zone. The Cougars got as far as the Skowhegan six on their next series but couldn’t convert on a pass into the wind on fourth-and-goal. They also had two fourth-quarter drives stall within scoring range, one at the five and another at the 17.

“All year in the red zone, we’ve scored touchdowns, and in the red zone tonight, we didn’t score touchdowns,” said Mt. Blue coach Gary Parlin. “Their offensive and defensive linemen played really well tonight.”

Indeed, Skowhegan (5-5) won the battles up front at the most critical times. The line created just enough room for QB Mike Lacasse to lean across the goal from half a foot out for the Indians’ second touchdown with 6:12 left in the third quarter. Then they opened up big enough holes for Whiting to convert two fourth downs on the ground to set up their third and final touchdown, a five yard run by Chambers (26 carries, 85 yards) that put the game away early in the fourth.

“Mt. Blue played us tough, and we had to work hard and make some blocking adjustments,” said Skowhegan coach Mike Marston. “When we needed it, they came through.”

“I thought early we did a good job stopping their run game,” Parlin said. “They trapped us late and they got into our linebackers. It’s so tough to find those guys in that offense.”

Just two weeks ago, the Indians surrendered 48 points to the Cougars in a loss. But the defense held their vaunted running game to just 121 yards and forced the Cougars into more third-and-long situations than they would have liked under the tough passing conditions. Barker was able to complete just 2-of-9 passes for 13 yards. The Indians didn’t have to put the ball in the air all night.