By Randy Whitehouse,Staff Writer

FARMINGTON – Mt. Blue played in the very first clash between the PTC and SMAA to decide the Class A state football championship in 1987.

After waiting 18 years and allowing nine other schools the opportunity to represent the conference, the Cougars are back.

Mike Toothaker’s 23-yard touchdown run with 4:47 to go ended up being the game-winner, as top-seeded Mt. Blue rallied to knock off No. 2 Skowhegan Friday night, 26-24, on a frozen Caldwell Field.

The Cougars will play the winner of today’s Western A championship between Bonny Eagle and Massabesic, next Saturday at Fitzpatrick Stadium.

“We were in the first one and it was about 15 degrees colder at Bowdoin than it was tonight,” said Mt. Blue coach Gary Parlin, who was an assistant coach on the last Cougar squad to win the PTC. “I don’t care if it’s minus-12 next week. I really don’t.”

Mt. Blue’s defense, which hadn’t stopped Skowhegan on three second-half drives, came up with the stops it needed to allow Toothaker’s second TD of the game to stand up. The Indians, who outgained the Cougars, 424-314 yards on the night, went four-and-out on their first possession following the Cougar running back’s score, then couldn’t get past midfield on their last series in the final minute.

“We just had to dig down with all of our hearts,” said junior linebacker/running back Justin Lowe. “We all had to leave everything on the field with no regrets, and that’s what we did.”

Skowhegan (7-3), which handed Mt. Blue its only loss this season two weeks ago, fought back after digging itself into an early hole.

An Indians fumble and excellent punting by the John Moloney gave the Cougars (9-1) the field position edge early, and they took advantage with a 39-yard TD run by Toothaker (13 carries, 106 yards) and an 18-yard TD scamper by QB Mason Barker (15 carries, 86 yards) for a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Indians went to a hurry-up offense to start the second quarter. And while the Cougars thwarted their first drive at their own 4, Skowhegan knew it had found a way to move the chains after going three-and-out on its first three possessions.

“We tried to change the tempo, and we got back into the game,” Skowhegan coach Mike Marston said. “It came down to a couple of plays late in the game, which it usually does.”

Using a short passing game featuring QB Mike LaCasse (15-of-22, 114 yards) and running back Aaron Chambers (nine catches, 73 yards, to go with 98 yards rushing), and the inside running of Josh Whiting (18 carries, 150 yards, three touchdowns), Skowhegan got back into the game with a pair of touchdowns sandwiched around halftime.

Yet even as the Indians were chewing up yardage and scoring on the Cougar defense, they weren’t able to break through on any of their four two-point conversion attempts, and that would prove to be the difference.

The Cougars extended their lead to 20-12 in the third quarter when Barker (9-of-18, 97 yards) threw a six-yard slant to Moloney on fourth-and-goal.

Skowhegan abandoned the no-huddle for most of the second half, yet still had little trouble moving the ball. On third-and-two late in the third quarter, Whiting ran up the middle, emerged from a traffic jam unscathed and barely outraced the Cougar secondary for a 79-yard TD that made it 20-18.

After holding the Cougars three-and-out, the Indians went back to the ground and took their only lead on Whiting’s five-yard plunge up the middle with 6:58 left.

The Cougars converted another big fourth down on the game-winning drive, an eight-yard pass from Barker to Arthur Trask on fourth-and-five. Barker followed with a 25-yard run that set up Toothaker’s pinballing 23-yard run.

“As we have all year, our offense put a drive together and went right down the field,” said Parlin. “We’ve got some pretty resilient kids. When you’ve got a good line and a good quarterback, you can move the football.”