Could we do this again next weekend? And the one after that and the one after that?

No offense to the other football schools in the Class B division of the Pine Tree Conference, but it would have been a swell idea to go with an NCAA Division I model the past two seasons.

You know, 12 teams in a Championship Subdivision, with Leavitt and Mt. Blue sequestered in a Beat the Daylights Out of Each Other Subdivision, just to make it fair and fun for everybody.

Have the Hornets and Cougars play an 11-game series. Four games in Farmington, four in Turner and three assigned randomly to neutral sites throughout the state. Hey, let’s share the joy.

The survivor either would be well prepared to blister some poor, unsuspecting team from the West, or bruised beyond all recognition.

Mt. Blue and Leavitt played three games in 365 days that none of us with a passing interest will forget until the way we die.

Those encounters ended with strikingly similar scores: 22-17, Leavitt; 22-21, Leavitt; and Friday night, 20-12, Mt. Blue. Individually or as a whole, they captured every reason we play, coach, write about, broadcast and/or adore high school football.

“It’s just nice to have a week where you prepare and you know it’s going to be a good game,” said Leavitt coach Mike Hathaway, moments after his team was defeated in a conference game for the first time since November 2008. “You know the players and coaches on both sides are the highest quality. I’m sorry that we lost, but I’m happy that we got the opportunity to play in a game like this.”

Offenses flexed their muscles and flaunted their versatility. Defenses delivered hellacious hits, forced turnovers and stifled drives. Coaches swapped strategic salvos on the green-and-brown chessboard. The bipartisan thousands in attendance rode out myriad momentum swings and went home with collective laryngitis.

And like any heavyweight title bout, the victors looked equal parts delighted, dazed and in awe of the vanquished.

“It’s huge respect,” said Zak Kendall, Mt. Blue’s bearded, 265-pound two-way starter at end. “Right after the game those guys are coming up and saying, ‘Great game; we’ll see you in the Eastern Maine final.’ I have the utmost respect for Leavitt, and they have just as much respect for us, I believe. It’s fun football.”

Rivalry is an overused word in high school football, because most of them are only worth the paper the teams’ respective records are written on.

Changes in the economy and population movement have removed the starch from many of Maine’s greatest gridiron relationships.

Cony-Gardiner and Waterville-Winslow have been reduced to preseason games. It doesn’t take much imagination to see Thornton-Biddeford heading that way. Heck, not long ago somebody was inspired to make a documentary entitled “The Rivals” about two schools (Mountain Valley and Cape Elizabeth) that are two hours apart and hadn’t even been playing one another for a decade.

Likewise, Mt. Blue-Leavitt is a rivalry of convenience. Separated by roughly 25 miles of Route 4 highway, the two programs existed in different football universes until the Cougars dipped from Class A to B one year ago.

It only feels like they’ve been swapping haymakers in the center of the ring forever. They are two multi-Zip code communities with similar values, similar traditions and similar philosophies, all of which confirm why their parallel successes are no accident.

“Hopefully if everybody takes care of business we’ll be playing these guys another time,” Mt. Blue coach Gary Parlin said, alluding to the PTC championship game that is five weeks away. “They’re so well coached. Their kids play hard. I don’t know how two teams could mirror each other more than we do.”

Parlin’s Cougars were so emotionally scarred from their double-dip of heartbreak last fall that the coach had one of his easiest weeks of preparation ever.

Oh, make no mistake: There have been ample nights of abbreviated sleep devoted to dissecting film and considering moves and countermoves. Once the whistle sounded to christen each day’s practice, however, Parlin didn’t have to be Knute Rockne. He was compelled to be more peacemaker than motivator.

“The seniors took over practice. They were very, very easy to coach this week. In fact, part of our job was to calm them down,” Parlin said. “Pre-game practice Thursday, they were so friggin’ grumpy. One mistake and they were pissing and moaning at each other. They never do that, but we said, ‘OK, this is good. They’re ready.'”

So much fun has been had by all, before and during these games, it’s tempting to ignore the truth — that this two-year marriage of convenience is about to end.

Maine Principals’ Association membership soon will vote on a proposal to increase the state’s high school football matrix from three enrollment classes to four.

If that happens, barring any unforeseen adjustments, Mt. Blue will stay in Eastern Class B. Leavitt would slide into Western C.

“It’s probably going to go away,” Hathaway said. “It’s not a rivalry where we hate each other and things like that. It’s the kind of rivalry where we play each other and it’s going to be close games. So they’re going to be emotional games that everybody wants to win, and when you lose it’s going to hurt. That’s what makes a good rivalry, I think.”

I think so too. And I think we ought to get everyone together one more time on Friday, Nov. 9, for old time’s sake and posterity and the good of the game and all that happy stuff.

If not sooner.

Kalle Oakes is a staff columnist. His email is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @Oaksie72.