The Skowhegan Indians have been all about bucking trends this year, so what’s the big deal about one more?

After falling just short in its last three conference championships, Skowhegan finally emerged from the Pine Tree Conference. The Indians did it by running an offense that is the antithesis of the spread blueprint that is now in vogue with so many high school programs.

We will find out in tonight’s Class A championship game (6 p.m., Fitzpatrick Stadium) if the Indians have the stuff to turn back the biggest tide they’ll face all season – the superiority of western Maine in Class A football. Not only is the West 19-2 under the modern state finals format, the most dominant team of this era since the early-1990s Biddeford Tigers awaits the Indians – Bonny Eagle, which a year ago won its third state title in four years with a 34-14 thumping of Lawrence.

The Scots’ 9-2 record may indicate a vulnerable team, but one of those losses was a forfeit that was the result of using an ineligible player in a convincing win over Westbrook. The other defeat was a one-point loss to Deering, which Bonny Eagle avenged in the semifinals, 26-14, at Deering. The Scots went on the road again to beat Thornton Academy in the regional championship game, 20-0.

Bonny Eagle has employed the aforementioned spread offense to win state titles in 2004, 2005 and 2007. The last two years, quarterback Nate Doehler has made an annual habit of passing the 1,000-yard mark in rushing and passing. Elusive senior running back Josh Ruby gives defenses something else to worry about running behind the requisite massive Bonny Eagle offensive line. The Scots’ defense, meanwhile, has been at its best when facing some of the state’s top rushers, such as Deering’s Jack Heary.

Like Bonny Eagle, Skowhegan won at home in the first round (over Brunswick), then took to the road the next two weeks to get to Fitzpatrick, upsetting top-seeded and unbeaten Lawrence, then shutting out No. 2 seed Edward Little, 20-0.

Skowhegan (10-1) runs the double-wing and power-I featuring 2,000-yard rusher Billy Clark, who topped the 200-yard mark and scored his 28th TD of the season in the mud last week against EL. Clark was upstaged, however, by Cody Vigue, who rushed for 121 yards and a touchdown and also picked off three passes. While the Indians won’t go to the air as much as the Scots, they have scored one touchdown via that route the last two weeks. Quarterback Jordan McGowan was an efficient 3-for-3 for 37 yards and a touchdown against EL.

The Indians last played for the gold ball in 1989, when they lost to Marshwood, and last won one in 1978, when they beat Gardiner for the Class B crown.