The football season had barely advanced into October and the Winslow Black Raiders already had two losses.

A 44-7 pounding by Gorham and a 14-11 loss to Leavitt had given the tradition-rich Winslow team two losses in its last four games.

In a community where winning is the norm, it might have been time to panic, but Mike Siviski didn’t. He had a young squad after graduating 20 seniors. Patience was the plan.

“The approach we’ve had is that we’ve tried to improve and take it one week at a time,” said the longtime Winslow coach.

Now the Black Raiders have just one more week. After six straight wins, four of them coming against Belfast and Brewer, the rebuilding Black Raiders are in their third state championship game in this decade. Winslow won the state crown in 2000 and 2001 and go for their 10th Class B championship Saturday against Mountain Valley at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland.

“We really couldn’t imagine we’d be where we’re at at this point,” said Siviski. “It kind of goes to show what you can do when you have good kids that are ready to step in. We’ve been very pleased. It’s been an amazing season.”

The Black Raiders returned just two regulars from last year, senior backs Ryan Lindie and Jared Maroon. Winslow was young just about everywhere else.

“We have a bunch of seniors on the line, but they’re all first-year starters,” said Siviski, who doesn’t have any players left over from the 2001 title team. “I kind of thought the kids on the line could do a pretty good job if they got some seasoning.”

After going 9-1 last year and losing to Belfast in the regional final, Siviski believed his club would be hard-pressed to approach that kind of success.

“I thought we were going to have a very hard time having a winning record,” said Siviski.

The young Black Raiders, however, played above their experience. Siviski says the team grew up in a hurry after that second-week loss at Gorham.

“I think the turning point was when Gorham beat the hell out of us,” said Siviski “We were a JV team then, and they beat the hell out of us. We kind of used it as a stepping stone to be where we should be.”

Since then, Winslow has lost just once, allowed an average of just 11 points per game and posted three shutouts.

Brandan Bellows, Stephen Siviski and Ryan Lindie lead what has become a pretty stellar defense.

“Jim Poulin does a fantastic job,” said Siviski of his defensive coordinator. “He’s been an integral part of our approach.”

Though Winslow doesn’t have the power game it had last year, the Black Raiders have been pretty versatile offensively.

Justin Lindie has led the running game with 1, 456 yards on 112 carries but Ryan Lindie (142-516), Maroon (60-293), Stephen Siviski (60-170) and John Goulette (34-236) have given the Black Raiders some balance. Siviski has thrown for 636 yards and eight touchdowns. His top receiver has been Eric Lopez, who has nearly 400 yards in receptions and five touchdowns.

“We’re pretty balanced,” said Siviski. We have a pretty good group of backs.”.