Somebody tell me: When did this seismic shift in Class A happen?

I swear it was only two years ago that the frazzled football columnist suffered through another hideously mismatched Class A championship game, then roundly concurred with the defeated head coach’s reiterated call for a revised, four-class system.

While there’s no doubt in my mind that the continued growth of small-school football programs (Freeport, Sacopee Valley, Monmouth, Buckfield, Telstar, etc.) makes a valid case for impending, sweeping change, there’s no longer a state of emergency at the top of the pyramid.

In a worst-case scenario for Eastern Maine, an honest comparison of the eight playoff teams from the Pine Tree Conference and their counterparts from the Southern Maine Activities Association is a wash. Gorham is the only quarterfinal loser on the southern end of the spectrum that could even dream of competing with the four PTC semifinal survivors.

And if we’re fleshing out the relative merits of the Final Four on each side of the invisible line that separates the Two Maines, it’s no contest. The boonies rule. Eastern Class A dominates, cleats down.

For the possible visitor from another galaxy to fully appreciate the weight of that statement, it’s necessary to review a historical record that once perpetually gave PTC fans a conniption.

The Maine Principals’ Association oversaw high school football’s last extreme makeover during the 1986-87 school year, abolishing Class D and merging the Class A and B divisions (or ‘A’ and ‘AA,’ for the people in Fairfield, Skowhegan and Farmington who were too proud to admit they were in Class B).

This created a new, Super Bowl-style collision of the East and West champions, one that started at Bowdoin College before moving with few exceptions to its divinely ordained home (sarcasm fully intended) at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland.

Lewiston (then a member of the SMAA) and Fitzpatrick Trophy winning quarterback Brian Seguin squelched Mt. Blue, 12-0, in an inaugural 1987 final that wasn’t really that close.

Over the time it took the current Class A championship format to become old enough to vote, the West utterly dominated, winning 18 of those first 19 battles for bragging rights. Few of those games were competitive. The East’s only win came in 2001, and that champion — Bangor — was a refugee from the old ‘AA’ division whose enrollment and tradition rivaled the West.

But a funny thing happened in 2006. Lawrence knocked off Gorham, 14-13, to put a Gold Ball in a trophy case north of the Maine Turnpike terminus for the second time this decade.

Lawrence is arguably even better this season, particularly on offense, and leads an Eastern contingent that is positively loaded.

Bangor is its usual embarrassment of riches. Lewiston boasts the best back in the state and a superior supporting cast to the one his Fitzy-wielding predecessor enjoyed. Skowhegan is stacked with seniors and starting to gain a Boothbay-like comfort level with its double wing offense, to the point where it doesn’t matter who gets the ball.

Down in Cumberland and York counties, beyond Bonny Eagle, the field is much leaner.

Thornton and Marshwood is a coin flip of a semifinal. Two solid teams, no doubt, but nothing that would cause heart palpitations up here in PTC country.

Deering is not the borderline college team it was when it captured that elusive state title in 2003. Bonny Eagle dealt with the Rams decisively earlier this autumn and should do so again Saturday.

What else is there in that once-dominant corridor of the state? Biddeford hasn’t been scary for more than a decade. Portland and South Portland are mere shadows of their former selves. Cheverus is still growing under John Wolfgram. Kennebunk, Scarborough, Noble, Sanford and Massabesic are stuck in that one good year, three building years pattern.

Despite all the historical evidence and hand-wringing to the contrary, pride and continuity are winning out. The Pine Tree Conference has stemmed the tide.

Right now, it’s a better conference. It’s not even up for debate.