Bedford football makes a statement with big win over Manchester Central

BEDFORD - Neither Bedford High School football coach Derek Stank, nor Manchester Central coach Ryan Ray, were looking at the standings heading into Friday night's game, but it was the Bulldogs who established themselves as the favorite in the Division I North Conference with a 45-0 win over the Little Green.

Central won the opening toss, but deferred to the second half allowing, Bedford (5-0) to gain momentum from the opening kickoff. On the first possession, the Bulldogs drove 65 yards, capped off by an 11-yard touchdown run by senior quarterback Thomas Morgan.

Even though Bedford’s offensive output was impressive the defense was outstanding, holding Central to only 60 yards of total offense. Stank credited his eight guys up front with their ability to keep Central quarterback Alex Hawkom in the pocket and neutralize his athleticism on broken-down plays.

After a little back and forth, the Little Green (3-2) were able to drive into the red zone, but a few incomplete passes lead to a turnover on downs. After that, the Bulldogs were able to drive 82 yards on 15 plays, pushing the game 14-0 on a 6-yard TD run by Ryan Toscano.

Toscano finished the game with 88 yards on the ground and two touchdowns, leading the way for the Bulldogs along with five other ball carriers gaining over two hundred yards on the ground.

A Madison Lucontoni 26-yard field goal pushed the score to 17-0 at halftime. She was also a perfect 6 for 6 on extra points.

To continue the pressure, the Bulldogs recovered the second half kickoff and scored on the very next play, a 30-yard run by Lucien Mumpini that started to put the game out of reach at 24-0.

“Ninety-nine percent of the breaks went Bedford’s way, and they were able to do pretty much whatever they wanted," Ray said. The Central coach does hope to see Bedford or North sometime down the road to avenge the last two weeks losses.

Toscano added another touchdown late into the third quarter, but on the ensuing Central possession, the Little Green were forced to punt and it was muffed by Mumpini. But on the next Little Green play, Mumpini atoned, intercepting Hawkom to give the Bulldogs first team a final possession, which was capped off by Morgan’s second touchdown.

A late touchdown was added by Aaron Skaling and a late interception by Timothy Greene were highlights for the Bulldogs second team.