What’s it like not to be a conference champion? What’s it like to get on a bus for a regional playoff game?

Leavitt’s football seniors wouldn’t know.

With their 41-6 walloping of Gardiner, the Hornets put the wraps on school history that puts them in exclusive statewide company.

Pine Tree Conference regular-season champions for the fourth consecutive year, No. 1 Leavitt will open the Eastern Class B playoffs against No. 8 Morse on Friday night at Libby Field.

“First thing you want to do is clinch a playoff spot. Then you want to get as many home games as you can,” Leavitt coach Mike Hathaway said. “We’ve been the league champion in the regular season four times in a row, so that was something we wanted to do.”

The average score of a Leavitt game this year: 45-11, and that’s deceptive.

Not counting a 22-17 victory at Mt. Blue in what was the tri-county game of the year to date, Leavitt has scored most of its points in the first half while its starting defense has barely broken a sweat.

The journey hasn’t been without its hiccups.

Senior offensive lineman and linebacker Josh Bunker went down with a season-ending knee injury against Hampden in Week 1. One month later, linebacker Brandon Collins tore his ACL and MCL on the first play of the Mt. Blue showdown.

Their replacements have been outstanding.

“Matt Powell at left tackle as a sophomore has done a nice job for us. And Levi Morin in the Mt. Blue game and this (Gardiner) game, he’s earned his stripes as a linebacker,” Hathaway said. “He’s played two good games against two good teams, so we feel pretty good about it.”

Leavitt has won 30 straight games against Eastern B opponents. Coincidentally, the Hornets’ last PTC loss was at home to Morse in the 2008 semifinals.

In their regular-season meeting, Leavitt rolled past Morse, 50-24, Sept. 16 in Bath.

HELPING HANDS

Leavitt might be running roughshod over the rest of Eastern B, but the Hornets have a merciful side.

One week ago, Leavitt traveled to Oceanside High in Rockland for the Mariners’ senior night festivities. As part of the ceremony, Oceanside planned to launch pink balloons and say a few words on behalf of breast cancer awareness in honor of senior captain Seth Batty, whose mother, Pamela, lost a lengthy battle with the disease.

Oceanside also took a collection with proceeds going to the American Cancer Society, but conditions weren’t exactly favorable.

“The rain was coming down sideways. There obviously weren‘t a lot of people there,” Leavitt athletic director Jeff Ramich said. “Our kids and our fans felt terrible and thought we should do something.”

So the Hornets held their own pre-game balloon launch and also passed the hat Friday night. Leavitt will donate the money to cancer research on behalf of Oceanside and the Batty family.

BREAKING EVEN

Poland fell one spot shy of a playoff berth in its first Western Class C season, but the Knights let everybody in the Campbell Conference know that they’re here to stay.

In their last two games, the Knights defeated Winthrop and Winslow, two programs that have appeared in a total of seven state title games in the past 12 years.

Four wins and a .500 season both were firsts in the history of the program.

“We’ve continued to work on getting even tougher mentally and emotionally,” first-year Poland coach Ted Tibbetts said. “It’s always a process.”

A team that discovered so many ways to lose through its early years found different ways to win in 2011.

Christian Hanscom scored three touchdowns in an opening-night victory at Sacopee Valley. Tony Whalen engineered the two-minute drill in a come-from-behind triumph over Telstar.

The defense came up with seven turnovers at Winthrop. And Tyler Sturtevant was the headliner against Winslow, scoring three touchdowns.

“For the offense, (that balance) is a nice thing to have,” Tibbetts said. “We keep talking about the team component of that, and they’re getting more and more confident about what we’re trying to accomplish.”

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