RUMFORD — It’s tough to quantify the Mountain Valley High School defense and put it into historical perspective because, well, it’s the Mountain Valley High School defense.

The Falcons have inflicted bumps, bruises and ringing ears into the third and fourth week of more Novembers than anyone can count.

So here’s the skinny.

They are prolific enough to have scored more points than many Class B offenses.

They are talented enough that the Falcons’ offense puts a big enough digit on the board to win the average Campbell Conference game the first time it touches the ball.

And they are smart enough not to let any of those distinctions foster laziness, or even satisfaction.

“We’re competitive with each other on defense,” said senior defensive end Christian Durland. “Competitive as in who’s going to get the big hit or make the big play. It’s kind of like we’re playing ourselves on defense.”

Mountain Valley encounters its ultimate challenge last — fellow unbeaten Leavitt in Saturday’s Class B championship game. Kickoff is 11:06 a.m. at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland.

Eleven other teams have lined up against Mountain Valley this fall. Seven have gathered in their post-game huddle without even a warm, fuzzy cosmetic touchdown.

They’ve owned the best seat in the house to watch Durland sack their quarterback. Or see middle linebacker Ryan Glover make a dozen tackles. Or catch Taylor Bradley flattening a would-be receiver. Or witness Cam Kaubris playing animal control, rescuing the other quarterback’s wounded duck to the safety of the Falcons’ end zone.

Other times, maybe the perpetrator is somebody they didn’t know before the game: Matthew Hosie, Izaaak Mills, Taylor Carey, Josh Allen, Ben Higley, Nick Sterling, Tyler Morton, Cote Blanchard or Brandon Milligan, just to select a few.

Their hits ring bells more loudly than their names. But their numbers stay scorched in the mind’s eye long after the daunting task of watching the film is complete.

“It’s a team. In years past we always had that one or two kids who were just an outstanding performer, and we all kind of felt like we were in the way,” said Mountain Valley coach Jim Aylward. “I think there’s kind of a greater sense of achievement with this group, because there really are no stars with this team, just some really good football players across the board. At the snap of the ball, we’re going. We play.”

What the Falcons might lack in star power, they do compensate with their track record.

Seven of the starters are seniors who won championships at the traditional sixth-grade and eighth-grade checkpoints, suggesting that they would be successful in high school.

Kaubris, Bradley, Allen and Durland all started as sophomores for the Justin Staires-led team that routed Morse for the 2008 Class B crown.

“So we kind of knew we were going to have a great team,” Glover said, “but it wasn’t going to get handed to us.”

The Falcons have wasted no opportunities to improve. Two of Mountain Valley’s first three opponents reached the end zone.

In the regular season opener, the Falcons routed Lake Region, 45-6.

You guessed it: Durland and friends were more self-conscious about the six points allowed than self-assured over the one-sided win.

“It was like, ‘OK, it’s the first game, so whatever.’ We didn’t want to keep repeating that each week,” said Durland, who led the Falcons with nine regular-season sacks. “We wanted to keep those shutouts on the board.”

Wells rolled into Rumford two weeks later and amassed an unusually high total of rushing yards against Mountain Valley in the first half.

Even after buckling down and escaping with a 14-6 win, the Falcons were flabbergasted.

“We watched our game film from the first game against Wells and we basically threw up in our mouths,” Durland said. “There’s a big difference. I think we’ve gotten a lot quicker. We’re a lot more aware of where the ball is. The first game of the year it looked like we were putting together a team for a pickup game.”

Mountain Valley served up 21 consecutive shutout quarters after the Wells game and went more than a month without letting another Western Class B team score.

Durland and Glover combined for three sacks last Saturday, when Mountain Valley limited Wells to 87 yards in the rematch, a convincing 18-0 victory for the regional title.

“From that first game against Wells in Week 3, we stepped it up on the scale so much,” Glover said.

Mountain Valley has allowed only 30 points all season. Saturday, the Falcons face a Leavitt offense that rarely has been held beneath that plateau in any game while defending its state championship.

Nobody needs to remind them twice.

“We probably do enough goofing around the beginning of the week,” said Glover. “Toward the end of the week, we’ve got butterflies. We know we’re playing a good team. Every play is like winning a Super Bowl.”

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