Bedford football regroups, runs past Bishop Guertin to stay unbeaten

BEDFORD – There had been little adversity facing the Bedford High School football team through the first six games of the season, but the Bulldogs found themselves in the rare position of trailing entering halftime of Friday night’s game against Bishop Guertin.

Thankfully for Bedford, the running formula of quarterback Bennett Matthews and running back Brody Helton was potent in combining for 272 yards and four touchdowns to keep the Bulldogs undefeated with a 35-28 Division I victory over the Cardinals.

Bedford (7-0 overall, 6-0 in DI) was coming off last week's 35-0 win over Nashua North, while Bishop Guertin (5-2 overall, 4-2 in DI) suffered its second straight loss following last week's 28-24 defeat by Nashua South.

“We came into this game knowing it was going to be a tough battle,” Matthews said. “They punched us in the mouth a little bit. We were down at halftime, but we showed up in the second half and took it to them.”

Matthews ran for 116 yards on 16 carries with three touchdowns on the night. He also completed all six of his passes for 77 yards with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Dylan Belair to tie the game at 7-7 with 3:51 left in the second quarter.

Helton bulldozed his way to 156 yards on 21 carries with a 1-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter to slice Bedford’s deficit to 14-13 entering halftime. He gained 128 of those yards in the second half, including 41 yards on the game’s final drive to seal the win following an 8-yard touchdown catch by Bishop Guertin’s Rocco Roy.

“I just think our run game is too dominant with me and him (Matthews) in the backfield,” Helton said. "They've got to choose one at the end of the day.”

Bishop Guertin played without head coach Anthony Nalen after he was suspended following last week's ejection in the loss to Nashua South. Defensive coordinator Jermaine McKenzie served as acting coach on Friday.

Bishop Guertin quarterback Nate Bowen completed 12 of 16 passes for 185 with three touchdowns. His scoring passes of 22 yards to Sam Fayad and 29 yards to Roy in the second quarter gave Bishop Guertin the lead.

“We just missed a couple of tackles that we were in position for and I think this game goes a little differently for us,” McKenzie said. “Bedford is a great team. They know what they need to do, they’ve been in those situations and they stepped up. We just need to make some more plays and we’ll be fine.”

Helton busted open a 15-yard run to begin Bedford’s 11-play, 70-yard drive that ended with a Matthews’ 1-yard touchdown keeper. Matthews added a 2-point conversion run to give Bedford a 21-14 lead midway through the third quarter.

Bedford’s defense chipped in on the ensuing drive when a Brennen Krause’s sack of Bowen forced a punt. Matthews scored on a 32-yard touchdown run three plays later to give Bedford a 28-14 lead with 2:42 left in the third.

“We felt pretty good about what we had going on offensively and we just felt like we needed possessions,” Bedford coach Zach Matthews said. “Once we got possessions, we felt like we had a good opportunity to move the ball and score.”

After Logan Curran’s 6-yard touchdown run early in the fourth closed the gap for Bishop Guertin, Bennett Matthews gave Bedford a 35-21 cushion on a 23-yard touchdown run with 7:59 left in the game.

“It was a fun game, we let them score more than we would’ve liked, but offensively we did a lot of good things,” Zach Matthews said. “Certainly it’s a lot to learn and when you’re learning lessons and winning games we’ll take it. That’s a great football team and I’m sure we’ll see them again down the road.”