PORTLAND – The 2004 Class B state champion Mountain Valley Falcons made it a blueprint this year. The defense would leave opponents woozy and disoriented, the offense would usually deliver the final knockout blow.

Sometimes it happened on the last drive of the game. Sometimes it happened before the end of the first half. Whenever it happened, it was decisive.

Against Winslow Saturday, the Falcons rolled out that blueprint over the Fitzpatrick Stadium FieldTurf and 60 minutes later, broke ground with the first state championship in the school’s 15-year history.

The Falcons went into the year knowing they had a championship defense. They also had an experienced quarterback and a proven tailback, but there was some question whether the offense would be able to hold up its end of the bargain.

They had three new starters on the offensive line. Brendan Bradley, Kyle Dow and Travis Fergola, a tight end converting to guard, joined two returning starters, tackle Tristan LaPointe and center David Smith.

They were embarrassed in their first game, an opening night in York where they scored a season-low six points. As games went along, though, they seemed to get better. As the season wore on, they undoubtedly got tougher. The later it got in the season, the earlier the offense started asserting itself in games. Over the course of the Falcons’ 10-game winning streak heading into Saturday, it averaged 39 points per game.

Against Winslow, the offense took a bit of a step back, starting out sluggishly. They led, 13-0, at the half, but the Falcons weren’t able to put together many long drives. Special teams helped set up the first touchdown with a fumble recovery at the Winslow 27 and the defense scored the second on another fumble recovery.

The Black Raiders continued to turn the ball over, but the offense only made them pay for one mistake.

By the third quarter, though, it was clear that Aaron Arsenault (26 carries, 141 yards) was wearing down Winslow’s defense.

“He’s the freshest kid on the field because he’s only playing one way and I think that’s a huge advantage for a high school football team,” head coach Jim Aylward said. “If you can ever go into a season and say I’m only going to play my tailback on offense,’ that’s a smart move.”

Mountain Valley played the field position battle for the first 12 minutes of the second half. Winslow finally got over the shock of the first quarter in the fourth quarter and pulled within 13-7 with 10 minutes left. Following one last defensive stand, the Falcons had the ball, a six-point lead and just under six minutes left.

The Falcons knew that they could do more than just burn clock. They had to. The defense had pinned the Raiders back and they again had good field position. They had to finish Winslow off.

“We knew our line had to control them to get good runs,” Fergola said. “We just worked our asses off.”

“We didn’t play well the first half,” LaPointe said. “But we came back and we played the way we know we can play.”

And with eight plays, they marched 58 yards, erased three minutes off the clock, but more importantly, put Winslow deep in the rear-view mirror on Arsenault’s 12-yard TD run with just under three minutes left.

“We didn’t hold back,” LaPointe said. “I just think that’s classic Mountain Valley football.”

The offense helped define classic Falcon football. You could say the offensive line helped write the book.

“It’s unbelievable. It’s a great way to end it,” said Fergola. “We wrote the final chapter today.”