Bedford football completes comeback in OT to beat Merrimack, reach D1 final

BEDFORD – The game was there for the Bedford High School football team to take it.

And take the Bulldogs did.

Despite trailing by two touchdowns early in the fourth quarter, and struggling to move the ball against Merrimack’s defense, Bedford tied the game on the final play of regulation and defeated the Tomahawks 27-20 in overtime Saturday in the Division I semifinals.

The win seconds Bedford to the championship game in the second time in three years, where it will face Exeter, which beat Nashua North 23-20 in the other semifinal, in the final on Nov. 19 at the University of New Hampshire.

“They are committed to winning and doing whatever it takes to win,” Bedford coach Derek Stank said. “It was something where we weren’t going to give up. Did we think it was going to be easy? No. Were there doubts in people’s minds? Probably, but the fact of that matter is they kept fighting when we needed them to fight the most.”

Bedford (11-0) trailed 14-0 at halftime and 20-7 two plays into the fourth, but scored with 7:48 left to get within a touchdown. The Bulldogs then drove 78 yards in the final 1:31, getting a 5-yard touchdown pass from Connor Robert to Noah Chaberek on an untimed down after Merrimack was called for pass interference with no time left on the clock.

On the first play of overtime, Robert hut Chaberek again for a 10-yard touchdown, and on fourth down of Merrimack’s try, Shahrukh Hussain broke up a pass to the Tomahawks’ Dan McKillop to end the game.

Merrimack (9-2) had the ball inside Bedford’s 25-yard line six times, but scored just twice, as Justin Grassini was intercepted five times by the Bulldogs. The senior quarterback finished 26 of 46 for 253 yards and two touchdowns, but the five turnovers hurt the Tomahawks, as did penalties, as they were flagged 15 times for 110 yards.

“We talked about the difference in games with teams are pretty evenly matched, it’s going to be turnovers and special teams,” Merrimack coach Kip Jackson said. “We missed an extra point and we turned the ball over way too much, and that what the difference.”

Robert led Bedford with 46 yards rushing and two touchdowns on the ground, and was also 21 of 36 for 211 yards and two touchdowns. The junior was at his best on the Bulldogs’ final two drives, going 16 of 19 for 154 yards and two touchdowns.

“We were just clicking,” Robert said. “The offense just finally came together was one. We’ve been doing it all year. We’ve had a few games all year where we’ve started slow and we get down. We just did our jobs.”

The defense did its job early, as Merrimack got deep into Bedford territory on its first two drives, but came away with nothing. The Tomahawks scored on their third, though, as Grassini connected with Danny Vanecek (eight catches, 105 yards) for a 45-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead.

On Bedford’s next play, Robert was picked off by Tyler DeNeill, but the Bulldogs’ defense held, and on fourth-and-14, Grassini was intercepted by Lucien Mumpini.

Merrimack made it a two-score game when Grassini connected with Justin Weiser (eight catches, 75 yards) with 29.3 seconds left in the half.

The Tomahawks got the kickoff to start the second half and drove down the field, getting a first-and-goal from the Bedford 9. But after a 5-yard run by Joe Eichman on first down, DeNeill was dropped for a 2-yard loss and Merrimack was called for a hold on third down, moving the ball back to the 21.

Weiser ran for just a yard on third, and on fourth down, Grassini hit McKillop in the end zone, but the play was called back for offensive pass interference. Grassini’s pass to Eichman on fourth-and-goal from the 35 was incomplete.

Momentum continued to swing Bedford’s way when Spencer Adams picked off Grassini on Merrimack’s next drive and returned it to the Tomahawks’ 17-yard line. Four plays later, Robert ran it in from 2-yards out to make it 14-7 Merrimack with 3:45 left in the third.

The Tomahawks answered with a 13-play, 69-yard drive, converting a third and fourth down, as Eichman found the end zone on a 1-yard run. But a bad snap on the extra point forced holder Ryan Fournier to try to run with it and the Bulldogs made the stop to make it 20-7 with 11:35 to play.

Bedford was able to move into Merrimack territory on its next drive, but turned the ball over on downs at the Tomahawks’ 35.

But three plays later, Mumpini intercepted Grassini again, and Robert went to work, completing all five passes on the drive for 56 yards, and scored on a 7-yard run. The Tomahawks blocked the kick and held on to a seven-point lead, 20-13, 7:48 left.

Merrimack was able to use up more than six minutes, going on a 13-play drive and forced Bedford to use all its timeouts. The Tomahawks turned the ball over on downs at the Bulldogs 22-yard line with 1:31 left, and seemed to be in good shape.

The Bulldogs were able to complete some short passes underneath, moving down the field quickly.

“It was momentum and we were on our heels a little bit,” Jackson said. “We had zero pressure because of the type of passes that they were throwing. In the first half, we were able to get pressure on them because they were throwing the ball down the field.”

With the clock stopped, Bedford faced a first-and-goal from the Merrimack 10 with seven seconds left. Robert threw over the middle for Hussain, the ball was tipped nearly to Liam Greene, and officials called pass interference on Merrimack.

Bedford had an untimed down from the 5-yard line and Robert hit Charebek to tie it and Cam Flanagan kicked the extra point to it at 20.

The Bulldogs got the ball first and Robert went right back to Charebek on the first play to give Bedford a 27-20 lead. Eichman picked up four yards on Merrimack’s first play, but DeNeill lost three on second down.

Grassini’s pass to DeNeill on third down was incomplete, and on fourth down, the quarterback tried to hit McKillop at the pylon, but Hussain stepped up and knocked the ball away.

“They’ve been our rock all year,” Stank said of the defense. “They are a physical, fast-flowing bunch of football players. They’re smart and they love to play defense. They were able to respond when we needed to. Luckily, our offense was able to respond, too.”