PORTLAND -- Jack Mallis held the trophy in front of himself, and stared at the reflection smiling back from the Gold Ball.

The Windham High School senior running back had just helped the Eagles make the first major deposit in their football trophy case, with a 35-21 win over Bangor in the Class A state championship game. It was the first football state championship for Windham, which has only fielded a football team for 11 years.

"For the program, it's just amazing how much better we got in a couple years," Mallis said, shortly after turning the Gold Ball over to another teammate to admire. "This is going to be the beginning of something that's going to be there for a long time.

"This means everything."

It means everything at Dirigo High School in Dixfield, too. The Cougars won the Class C state title with a 37-20 victory over Foxcroft Academy. Dirigo was co-state champs in Class D in 1975 with Boothbay, but dropped football in the late 1980s before bringing the sport back this decade.

In Class B, Leavitt beat a Cape Elizabeth team that spent the last few years chasing a trumped-up rivalry with Mountain Valley. This year, the Capers took a step forward and started chasing a state title.

Saturday's trio of state championship games was the perfect example of the changing face of Maine high school football. Three of the six schools represented didn't even have varsity football teams a decade ago. Leavitt was in its first state title game since winning it all in 1998.

Dirigo's opponent in the Western C final was Yarmouth, another neophyte program.

Only Foxcroft, making its sixth Class C state game appearance this decade, and Bangor, making its fourth state game appearance since 2000, could be considered traditional high school football powers.

More teams than ever are playing high school football in Maine. And more of them are getting good quickly.

The gold standard for fast rise to the top is Bonny Eagle of Standish. The Scots went from nothing to four Class A state championships in five years, and have already had two athletes win the Fitzpatrick Trophy as the top senior football player in the state.

The rapid ascension of Windham, Dirigo and even Cape Elizabeth should offer hope to the other football programs in the state just starting out. If Windham and Dirigo can do it, why not Mt. View or Freeport?

That Windham won the state title isn't surprising. Since the current East vs. West format was adopted in 1987, only two Eastern Maine teams have won the Class A championship, Bangor in 2001 and Lawrence in 2006.

For a quarter and a half, it looked like we'd add Bangor 2009 to that short list of Pine Tree Conference Class A state champions. When Lonnie Hackett scored on a 3-yard run midway through the second quarter, the Rams had a 14-0 lead. Up to that point, Windham had enjoyed little success in moving the ball.

Maybe playing in the uber-difficult Southern Maine Activities Association makes teams like Bonny Eagle and Windham grow up in a hurry. Windham needed overtime to beat Bonny Eagle in the conference semifinals, then beat Cheverus by a point in the regional final. A 14-point deficit to Bangor wasn't going to rattle the Eagles.

"We've been playing together a really long time, especially the seniors on the team. Some of us (since) fourth grade, eighth grade. We've always been a resilient team," Mallis said.

Mallis scored four touchdowns in the second half to push the Eagles into the lead and keep them there.

Windham has been a varsity team for seven years. The Eagles first two varsity seasons were played in the Pine Tree Conference, alongside Saturday's opponent Bangor. The Eagles joined the SMAA in 2005, and five seasons later, they're hoisting the Gold Ball on the 50-yard line of Fitzpatrick Stadium.

High school football in Maine is still growing, and like Mallis said, this means everything.

Travis Lazarczyk -- 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com