Bedford football jumps on Goffstown early to remain undefeated

BEDFORD – For the first 24 minutes of Saturday’s game, the Bedford High School football team was making all the right moves.

The Bulldogs jumped out to a two-touchdown lead thanks to controlling time of possession, and that advantage allowed Bedford some room to breath in the second half, as it held off Goffstown 21-7 in a Division I North Conference game. The loss was the first for the Grizzlies in 17 games dating back to the 2014 season.

Bedford scored on three straight possessions in the first half as the Bulldogs (4-0) had the ball for more than 16 minutes and outgained Bedford 211-92 over the first two quarters.

Connor Robert led the way, completing 18 of 28 passes for 189 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, with Noah Chaberek and Harrison LeGoullon each catching a scoring pass. Robert also added a touchdown rushing, although the Bulldogs struggled to run the ball, picking up just 56 yards, including negative yardage in the second half on the ground.

But Bedford built enough of a lead in the first half and its defense didn’t break, as Goffstown couldn’t get closer than the 24-yard line after halftime.

“Any time you’re offense can maintain possession and extend a drive, it’s going to bode well for you,” Bedford coach Derek Stank said. “We were just trying to execute and grind down the field. This time we were able to do well in the first half. We were just executing. I think we got some of the right play calls at the right times.”

Two of those plays led to the Bulldogs’ first two touchdowns of the game, coming after Goffstown opted to decline penalties on Bedford.

The first came on the Bulldogs’ second drive, when on a second-and-7 from the Goffstown 8-yard line, Bedford was called for holding. Nick Leahy was stopped for a loss of a yard on the play, and the Grizzlies opted to decline the penalty, making it third-and-8 at the 9.

Robert hit Chaberek in stride on his way to the end zone on the next play to make it 7-0 with 3:left in the first quarter. Bedford’s Joseph Aiello sent the kickoff out of bounds and Goffstown elected for the rekick instead of taking the ball at its own 35.

This time, Stank called for an onside kick, and Aiello executed it, giving Bedford the ball at the Grizzlies 48. Twelve plays later, Robert found the end zone from 2 yards out to put the Bulldogs ahead 14-0 early in the second quarter.

To that point, Goffstown had run three plays and had its offense on the field for 1:24.

“I thought they took it to us up front,” Goffstown coach Justin Hufft said. “Second half we did a better job battling them on defense, but they really moved us around. Their passing game, the quarterback played a great game delivering the ball and his velocity, he has a quick release, too.”

Nik Moquin led Goffstown (3-1) by completing 17 of 26 passes for 147 yards and also had a 25-yard touchdown run in the second quarter that made it 14-7.

But Bedford answered that score with an 8-play, 70-yard drive that ended with Robert’s 25-yard touchdown pass to LeGoullon. The Bulldogs were driving for more at the end of the half, but an interception by Goffstown’s Coleman Handrahan ended the threat.

Goffstown opened the third quarter with a lengthy drive of its own, eating up 5:02 of the clock to go 12 plays and 53 yards. The Grizzlies converted a fourth-and-3 at their own 30 and went for a fourth-and-1 at the Bedford 24, but Carter Cormier’s plunge into the line came up short to turn the ball over on downs.

While the Goffstown offense found more room to maneuver, the defense held its own, forcing Bedford to punt on its first four possessions of the half and held the Bulldogs to 61 yards.

“We let them play a little bit in the second half,” Hufft said. “First half we were trying some stuff on defense and probably threw too much at them. We asked the kids to do stuff that was a little out of the comfort zone. When I got out of the way and let them do their thing, they played pretty well.”

But the Bulldogs were just a little bit better.

“This game is very much like chess,” Stank said. “You’ve got to make the right move now for it to help you later. I think we were able to put together a few drives in the beginning that were able to give us success. We had some plays that built on top of each other and put some points on the board.”