There’s no disputing that Winslow is a different football team than the one that hosted Dirigo nine weeks ago, in terms of personnel, poise and performance.

Then again, the Cougars aren’t remotely the same, either.

Western Class C’s hottest team confronts its best road team when the No. 1 Black Raiders welcome the No. 3 Cougars to Poulin Field once more, this time with a regional championship at stake.

Kickoff is set for 12:30 p.m.

Dirigo rallied for a 32-21 victory over Winslow on Saturday, Sept. 8. It was the first of three victories away from home for the Cougars — Traip (12-6) and Oak Hill (13-6 in last week’s semifinal) followed — against the other teams in the Campbell Conference’s consensus top four.

After the defeat, Winslow gained reinforcements from early-season academic probation and hasn’t lost since. The Black Raiders averaged 34 points per game in those eight wins.

“Supposedly they had nine guys not (playing) in that game, so they’re different,” Dirigo coach Dave Crutchfield said. “We’ve watched them play a couple times. They’ve definitely gotten stronger on the line; the guards mostly.”

Winslow did have all three pieces of its backfield puzzle in place that day and enjoyed customary success. Joe Hopkins, Zach Guptill and Dylan Hapworth combined for more than 300 yards.

Hopkins, the lone senior in the group, has topped 1,000 yards with 13 touchdowns in the past six games alone. Hapworth is a triple-threat sophomore who caught three TD passes in one game this fall and kicked a 40-yard field goal in another. Guptill, a 230-pound junior, provides a grinding change of pace and makes short-yardage situations almost impossible for opposing defenses.

The Black Raiders pound out most of those yards behind 260-pound senior tackle Brock Deschaine.

“Two of them are really quick. One is a brute who will run over you,” Crutchfield said. “They like to go to the weak side with their unbalanced line. They don’t throw a lot, but we’re expecting them to throw more.”

Dirigo used a six-man defensive front to slow down Oak Hill’s power running game.

Two long touchdown runs by Spencer Trenoweth in the second half vaulted Dirigo to victory, its fifth in as many tries away from Harlow Park this fall. It reversed a 33-0 loss at home two weeks earlier.

“I think we’d rather play on the road. I know I would,” Crutchfield said. “The kids get on the bus and they start zoning out and when we get there, they’re ready to play, I guess. Here they’re patty-caking with their girlfriends.”

Winslow couldn’t concoct an answer for Trenoweth or senior quarterback Brett Whittemore in the first meeting.

Whittemore completed seven of his nine pass attempts, including three touchdowns. Trenoweth turned in 229 total yards and two scores.

Dirigo’s semifinal victory was the Cougars’ fifth come-from-behind triumph. Previously, Oak Hill held Dirigo to three first downs and fewer than 70 net yards in the low point of its season.

“That game was an eye-opener. We got out-coached. We got out-played. We got out-everythinged in that game,” Crutchfield said, “We came back and had a coaches’ session and talked for hours on the right things to do, and I guess we did the right things.”

Winslow knocked off two-time state champion Yarmouth, 50-22, in the quarterfinals before toughing out a 7-0 win over Traip.

Dirigo dropped Old Orchard Beach in the opening round, its initial playoff win since claiming the Class C state title in 2009.

The Black Raiders seek their first regional crown since 2006, when they competed in Eastern B.

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