It’s a nice consolation prize, but frankly, the Poland football team is tired of it.

When you think of high school football teams consistently winning their final game of the fall, you probably picture a perennial power such as Cheverus hoisting the Gold Ball, again and again.

With a majority of Maine teams qualifying for postseason play, there aren’t many mechanisms for going out on a winning note other than running the playoff table.

That makes the Knights’ current trend unique. If Poland wins its Western Class C finale tonight at Gray-New Gloucester, this will make three consecutive years that the Knights have ended the regular season with a victory — without making the playoffs.

“Yeah, we’re the kings of winning our last game,” coach Ted Tibbetts quipped.

OK, so it isn’t the Knights’ primary goal each season. But there’s something to be said for the improvement from Point A to Point B.

In 2011, Poland polished off Winslow at home. A year ago, the Knights went to Readfield in a rainstorm and took out Maranacook. Both times, the defeated foe was playoff-bound.

Also, while it hasn’t shown in the columns that matter most during a six-game winless streak, the Knights have improved as much throughout the 2013 campaign as any team in Western C’s second division.

Spruce Mountain (6-1) needed a late drive to stave off Poland’s upset bid three weeks ago. And in its final home game of the season, Poland trailed Yarmouth 20-14 with six minutes to go when the wheels fell off.

“It was a lot like the Spruce Mountain game,” Tibbetts said. “We were down six late in the game, driving the ball near midfield. We turned it over and they came down and scored and that was it.”

Poland unraveled from there, essentially handing Yarmouth two more touchdowns.

The Knights also had a 7-0 loss to Freeport and played well in spots at perennial power Wells.

“Bad things happen and we fall apart, and it’s on me to figure out how to get us past that,” Tibbetts said. “We have too many guys out there for themselves. In addition to all the offseason stuff we do, I need to make sure we do more team-building.”