WINDHAM — There were plenty of predictions by amateur prognosticators at the beginning of the high school football season of a Class A state championship between Thornton Academy from the West and Cheverus from the East. The two teams met during the regular season in one of the most entertaining games of the season ”“ a 48-41 Cheverus victory in double overtime ”“ and there was hope of a rematch in the state title game.

But a funny thing happened on the way to Fitzpatrick Stadium, the site of Saturday’s Class A state championship game that the Western Maine champion Trojans will be playing: Cheverus lost in the Eastern Maine regional final, voiding the matchup many fans thought was a sure thing.

Instead, the Trojans will face the only team in the state to beat the Stags this season, the Windham Eagles, who did it twice.

The second-seeded team in the East shocked the Stags and many football fans with a 35-7 victory at Cheverus in week four. The Eagles then held off Cheverus’ chance at revenge by rallying for a 21-20 overtime win in the regional final last week.

Windham got the win on a blocked extra-point in the first overtime courtesy of senior Tanner Laberge, who was quick to brush away any talk of his team being an underdog or not belonging in the state championship game.

“People can say we’re an underdog, but we’re not,” said Laberge. “We’ve proved ourself well, beating Cheverus twice, having the schedule we had, beating Portland, beating Bangor, beating Bonny Eagle.”

The Eagles flew under the radar for much of the year, but two wins over Cheverus, another over defending state champion Bonny Eagle, and a stamped ticket to this year’s title game has put Windham on the same field as the more-publicized Trojans. Windham head coach Matt Perkins said his team can’t worry about what they’ve heard about Thornton.

“Our mantra all year has been ”˜don’t get caught up in the other team,’” said Perkins.

The Eagles didn’t grab as many headlines during the season because they don’t play a glamorous style of football. They didn’t have as many highlight plays during the season as Thornton Academy.

“I say we’re a hard-nosed football team, and we get after it,” said Laberge. “We like the hard-style, physical play of football. That’s what we all love being about; hard hits, big hits, big plays, that’s just what we’re about.”

The Eagles also lack star power, and instead rely on a group effort on offense and defense. Perkins said that his defense will need to tackle well as a group, as it has all season.

“Getting 11 guys to the ball, that was really key for us. I think one of our strong suits is we’re a very good tackling team.”

Perkins admitted that his defense hasn’t faced a passing attack the likes of which Thornton Academy boasts. He said his team will need to get some pressure on TA quarterback Austin McCrum, and that his back seven will need to play their roles and trust each other to slow down the Trojans’ receiving corp.

Thornton may have one of the best collections of receivers in the state, but Laberge said he isn’t intimidated.

“People have been talking about their receivers all week, but people haven’t been saying anything about our DBs, and I think we have one of the best or the best DB (groups) in the state. We’re all physical, we’re all athletic, fast. We can come up and make a hit or drop back and pick the ball off,” said Laberge. “People really shouldn’t be counting us out on DBs because I think we’ll be able to hold our own just fine against their receivers.”

The Eagles’ stable of backs ”“ including QB Desmond Leslie and RBs Dylan Koza and Eric Webb ”“ has the potential for big plays, but Perkins said ”“ as most coaches do ”“ that his offense’s success will be determined by the play of the line.

“We got to win the fight up front. We got to be bullies up front,” he said.

Laberge said he doesn’t expect to see anything the Trojans do surprise his team, as they have studied their title game opponent ad nauseam ”“ it’s a work ethic in the film room that he said was a big key to the wins over Cheverus.

Laberge pointed out that Thornton’s only loss was the one time the Trojans were put in a tight situation. He said Cheverus was able to get physical with Thornton and put the Trojans “in their only bind of the season.” Perkins said physicality is a specialty of his team.

“We’re a physical team. We play every play like it’s our last,” said Perkins. “I think that’s been our mantra right along. We give it everything we got every play, and play 48 minutes, and at the end see what happens.

Windham will be playing in its first state title game since 2009, but Perkins said the lack of title game experience in relation to Thornton ”“ which won the Gold Ball two years ago ”“ shouldn’t be a factor.

“These guys are so mentally tough. The things they’ve been through, I’m not worried about them at all,” Perkins said.

— Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.