They were pretty good at it, too. Coach Gary Parlin remembers. He was there.

“As it turned out, we ran Ray Caldwell’s old 48-rip all night,” Parlin said, paying tribute to his former boss. “I guess what goes around comes around. It was a great job by our offensive line.”

Forty-eight is Chad Luker. Four was his touchdown total Friday night in No. 1 Mt. Blue’s 42-14 rout of No. 6 Waterville for the Eastern Class B championship at Kemp Field.

Mt. Blue (11-0) scored the first three touchdowns and the last three in a title game that was decidedly less dramatic but far more satisfying for the Cougars than a 22-21 double-overtime loss to Leavitt one year ago.

“I never imagined it. It’s an awesome feeling. I’ve got to thank Coach Parlin for giving me the ball with short yards to go,” said Luker, who scored on runs of 5 and 10 yards in the first half and 3 and 1 in the second. “It was the worst feeling I could have ever felt last year and the best feeling this year.”

The Cougars captured their first regional crown since ruling Eastern A in 2005. They will face the Marshwood-York winner next Saturday, Nov. 17 at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland.

To get there, the Cougars churned out 358 of their 446 total yards on the ground.

Ballyhooed senior quarterback Jordan Whitney didn’t even throw a pass in the second half. Instead, he carried the ball 14 times for 99 yards and a touchdown on the night.

Calan Lucas logged 17 carries for 140 yards to lead Mt. Blue’s backfield-by-committee, but the chairman of that board was Luker (13 for 73).

Waterville (6-5) switched defenses on the fly in an effort to the slow the Mt. Blue express that rolled to victory in the final game of the regular season, but the resulting gap again was a four-touchdown canyon.

“We changed some things we do defensively to try to surprise them, give them a different look. Then we went back to what got us here, and they are bigger, faster and stronger,” Waterville coach Frank Knight said. “That’s why they’re 11-0 now and we have to accept that.”

Mt. Blue rolled up a 21-0 lead on Luker’s second and longest touchdown run of the night with 1:29 remaining in the first half.

His 10-yard surge capped an authoritative 10-play, 86-yard march behind the front five of Drew Blanchet, Tyler Sennick, Connor Farrington, Eli Luker and Colin Richards.

The Cougars went to their “elephant” formation, using Bradley Jackson and 265-pound Zak Kendall as fullbacks, whenever Luker got the ball.

“It’s just unbalanced, big boys in the backfield,” Luker said. “The first half, I was actually wondering why we were throwing the ball so much. It wasn’t working so well and we were running it down their throat.”

Momentary lapses have cost Mt. Blue throughout the playoffs, and the Purple Panthers took advantage of a series of freaky events to get back into the game before the half.

Jordan DeRosby returned a kickoff 43 yards before kicker and safety valve Whitney made a touchdown-saving tackle.

Three plays later, Aidan FitzGerald’s throw to the front left corner of the end zone caromed off defensive back Andrew Pratt’s hand and into the mitts of Nick Danner for an 8-yard score.

On Mt. Blue’s next play from scriimage, with under 30 seconds left, Whitney (7 for 10, 88 yards) made a two-step drop and ran one of Mt. Blue’s signature plays, a quick screen toward the sideline.

Waterville’s Brian Bellows stepped in front of the receiver, caught it in stride and coasted home to a 19-yard score.

Bellows also passed to Danner for the two-point conversion, and in the span of 14 seconds a laugher had turned into a tense 21-14 battle.

“The stupidest play call in history,” Parlin lamented. “We probably should have just run out the clock. But we still had two timeouts. I guess you fall in love with Jordan Whitney and if you get something going on the first play … We got something going, alright.”

The Panthers also had the opening possession of the second half in their back pocket, but Luker stopped FitzGerald’s quarterback keeper on third down to force a punt.

Mt. Blue responded with another 10-play drive and another Luker lunge across the goal line.

“We were talking (at halftime) about how penalties killed us, how that interception killed us,” Luker said. “We said just don’t get flat and come out with the same intensity.”

Waterville’s Racean Wood rambled for 69 yards in the first half but only 18 after the break.

Luker and Whitney combined to stop Waterville’s most productive drive of the second half on downs at the Mt. Blue 23.

Moments after his fourth touchdown with 6:40 left in the game, Luker intercepted a pass and had a 75-yard return wiped out by an illegal block.

Lucas carried on six consecutive plays before scoring from 4 yards out with 1:59 left.

“All the key players for us were on the field last year,” Parlin said. “They deserved this.”

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