For years, the Pine Tree Conference has been known as a power football league. Teams pound away at each other with tough ground games every week.

The PTC is still home to plenty of smash mouth football, but this season, more teams have taken to the air than in any recent season.

Last season, Mt. Blue quarterback Joe Gilbert led the league with 916 yards passing. Justin Frechette of Oxford Hills threw for 897 yards. A majority of PTC quarterbacks didn't reach 600 yards passing.

Through six weeks this season, six quarterbacks in the league have thrown for more than 600 yards, and a few more are close to that mark. With two games to go in the regular season, Gilbert leads the league with 1,113 yards. Cody Goddard of Edward Little has 879 yards and could go over 1,000 this week against Mt. Ararat.

Gilbert, Mt. Ararat's Josh Dibattista and Lawrence's Jack Hersom have all thrown at least 10 touchdown passes so far. Goddard has nine, and Matt Rende of Cony has eight touchdown passes with two games to go.

Teams are throwing more and completing more passes, too. Hersom has connected on 65.6 percent of his passes (40 of 61) while playing barely a half of football most weeks in the Bulldogs' big wins. Gilbert has completed 65.5 percent of his throws (74 for 113).