It’s time to stop dreaming and start drooling.

Thanks to two fantastic programs, exquisite timing and fuzzy geography, we have a first in the proud history of tri-county high school football.

Two of our own will meet for a Class B state championship next Saturday. And it’s about time.

Leavitt and Mountain Valley have a history, in case you forgot.

Throughout the 1990s, Hornets-Falcons was the most tempestuous football relationship in the region that didn’t involve a bridge or a town line.

Separated by 30 minutes of driving time on Routes 4, 108 and 2, the two schools were thrown together by their mutual strength on the gridiron.

Mountain Valley was simply starting out, the product of a social and economic experiment that merged the Rumford and Mexico school systems in 1989.

Leavitt was emerging from the doldrums of a ragged half-decade in the old Mountain Valley Conference and the Campbell Conference.

The Falcons didn’t lose many games to anyone in those early years — or now, for that matter.

Who was the first opponent to administer that bitter taste of defeat? Yup, you guessed it: The Hornets, early in the 1989 regular season. Mountain Valley returned the favor in the playoffs.

Once the newness and the sheer strength in numbers wore off, Mountain Valley went through a stretch in which they were solid, but beatable, losing Class B title games in 1990, 1994 and 1996.

Meanwhile, back on the other side of Peru, Canton and Hartford, Leavitt was busy embarking upon an upsurge that hasn’t ended.

After the passing of the torch from Doug Conn to his assistant, Bill County, the Hornets began writing their place in history. Running backs Jim Ray (1995) and Jeff Dube (1998) led the Hornets to state titles.

To win its regional hardware, Mountain Valley had to march through Leavitt, usually twice. Likewise, the Hornets didn’t put gold in their trophy case without stinging the Falcons.

Then the statewide growth of football and the eerie trend of more jobs and bodies moving south each year changed the face of Class B football in the double-zero decade.

Turner became the unlikely border town as the Maine Principals’ Association redefined East and West in the interest of balancing the Campbell and Pine Tree conferences.

Mountain Valley stayed West. Leavitt, still a stone’s throw from Oxford County, somehow went East.

Jim Aylward continued wearing the whistle for the Falcons. Together with a dedicated staff, he molded a tradition-rich feeder system into a dynasty.

The Falcons’ 18-0 shutout of Wells in Saturday’s Western B final was their ninth appearance in that game since 2000. They’ve won five of the last seven; eight in all.

County climbed the career ladder to Lewiston and handed Leavitt’s keys briefly to Mike Lance, who passed them to Mike Hathaway nine years ago.

Hathaway has put out a parade of teams that is either big and burly or lightning-quick, typically both.

The Hornets have been the No. 1 seed in the Eastern B playoffs the last three years. Saturday, they ran away from Gardiner, 27-7, to successfully defend their sectional title.

In addition to its status as the reigning state champion, Leavitt owns the state’s longest winning streak at 23 games.

To make it two dozen and go back-to-back, they’ll have to hurdle an old friend.

We writers and fans have clamored for this heavyweight title fight, this superpower summit, for three years.

Fate and other good teams got in the way. Morse upset Leavitt in the 2008 semifinals. Mountain Valley couldn’t hold off an outstanding Cape Elizabeth team in the 2009 regional round.

Timing is everything. It was worth the wait.

Mountain Valley flaunted a once-in-a-lifetime team with cousins Justin Staires and Matt Laubauskas in 2008. Leavitt wielded a team-for-the-ages with Josh Strickland, Eric Theiss and Matt Pellerin in ’09.

Had the encounter happened earlier, there’s a good chance it would have been a rout.

This year’s successors stayed head-and-shoulders above their respective leagues while being less star-driven.

Each has a terrific athlete at quarterback: Jordan Hersom for Leavitt; Cam Kaubris for Mountain Valley.

Leavitt’s speed matches up with any team in any class. Mountain Valley’s grit, toughness and adoration of contact match up with any high school football team on the planet.

I couldn’t walk to my car after Leavitt held up its end of the bargain in the second half of the doubleheader without multiple people posing the burning question.

Who ya got?

No idea.

It’s been nine years in the making. At least give me nine more hours to give it some thought.

In my dreams.

Kalle Oakes is a staff columnist. His email is [email protected].