Leavitt and Mountain Valley share at least one approach to Saturday’s Class B state championship game.

When you’ve been perfect all season, it’s pointless to change anything now, even if your opponent has been perfect, too.

“Both teams have won 11 out of 11, so you’re not going to get to the state game and do something that’s out of your character or something completely different from what you’ve done,” Leavitt coach Mike Hathaway said. “You know what your strengths are and you’re going to try to emphasize those, and you know what the other team’s strengths are and you’re going to try to take those away.”

The strengths of the former rivals are well-documented (Leavitt left the Campbell Conference for what was then known as the Little Ten Conference in 2003).

The Falcons, playing in their fifth championship game in seven years, play suffocating defense and smashmouth offense, leaving opponents defeated well before the final horn. The Hornets, defending Class B champions and winners of 23 straight, use speed and finesse to pile up the points on offense and swarm to the ball on defense, sapping an opponents’ will to keep up.

The Hornets start eight seniors who helped dismantle Cape Elizabeth, 35-21, in last year’s title game. While that team steamrolled its way to a Gold Ball with bruising tailback Josh Strickland and a big, strong line, the current edition out-maneuvers defenses with a quick, technically-precise line led by Max Cloutier, Zach Frost and James Morin and an explosive backfield led by quarterback Jordan Hersom, tailback Jake Ouellette and slot/utility man Jason Fisher.

Hathaway quickly concedes that Mountain Valley, which has given up a paltry 30 points all season with seven shutouts, will be the best defense the Hornets face all year. But he sees opportunities for his offense to gain yards and score points.

“I think we’ll present some problems to them. We’ve got some speed. We’ve got some physicality. We’ve got some guys that can do some good things with the football. We’re looking forward to the challenge of going up against what’s probably the best defense in the state of Maine,” he said.

The challenge for Mountain Valley is slowing down an offense that averages nearly 400 yards and 39 points per game. It starts with the fast and elusive Hersom, who accounted for 2,593 total yards and 34 touchdowns passing, rushing and returning kicks. His improved poise in the pocket and the return of his favorite target, split end Lucas Witham (21 catches, 376 yards, 7 TDs) from injury have made the passing game a more formidable part of the spread option late in the season.

Ouellette (1,264 yards rushing, 18 TDs total) and Fisher (915 all-purpose yards, 9 TDs despite missing time with an ankle injury) make the Hornets’ option even more difficult to defend.

Mountain Valley’s offense is just as stocked with artillery, so while dynamic QB Cam Kaubris and 1,100-yard rusher Taylor Bradley get most of the ink, Hathaway is making sure his defense knows other names such as Izaak Mills, Josh Allen, Tyler Mason and Christian Durland.

“We’re going to stick with the same philosophy we’ve stuck with all year, and that’s every guy’s got to play their responsibility on every snap,” Hathaway said. “Those two guys (Kaubris and Bradley) are excellent athletes and they’re play-makers, but at the same time, if you fall asleep on a guy like Izaak Mills or the Allen kid at fullback or the Mason kid, those are kids that can hurt you, too. So our goal is to play solid all over the field at every level of our defense.”

Leavitt’s 52 defense is strong at all levels, up front with all-PTC selections Cloutier, Frost, Jesse Pelletier and Dylan Moore, who all collected double digit sacks, at linebacker with leading tackler Ouellette, and in the secondary with ball-hawks Hersom, Brian Bedard and Ian Durgin.

The defense’s challenge isn’t all that different from the offense’s — countering the physical Falcons with speed and solid (tackling) technique. The Hornets contend that they won’t back down physically either, citing the PTC championship against Gardiner as an example.

“Gardiner was a physical football team. They came at us and tried to run the ball down our throats,” sophomore linebacker Josh Bunker said. “We stepped it up and played physical. We definitely can finesse if we need to, but our coaches preach that every day, be physical, hit hard, go out and play your square.”

Despite its starters yielding just six touchdowns all year, the defense has been overshadowed by the offense. It’s produced a chip on the unit’s collective shoulder that could serve it well Saturday.

“We know our defense is strong,” Ouellette said, “but we kind of use that, people talking about our offense, it gets the defense fired up, thinking they’re not talking about us. Let’s give them something to talk about.”