Bedford sneaks past Hollis/Brookline to reach D3 football final

BEDFORD - James Caparell ran for two touchdowns and Dylan York returned a kickoff 90 yards for a score as the Bedford High School football team got past Hollis/Brookline 21-20 in Saturday's Division III semifinal.

The win puts the No. 2  Bulldogs (7-3) in the championship game for the first time, where they'll face No. 4 Portsmouth (7-3), a 34-8 winner over top-seeded Goffstown.

Caparell scored on runs of 1- and 27-yards and York's kickoff return came right after the No. 3 Cavaliers (7-3) had taken a 14-7 lead on an interception return by Max Friedman in the second quarter. York's touchdown tied the game at 14 and wiped out any momentum the Cavs had gained.

"You tell them the best way to take the wind out of their sails is to take one to the house right after they score," Bedford coach Kurt Hines said.

Bedford opened the second half with a 57-yard scoring drive that ended in Caparell's second rushing touchdown of the day, but H/B answered with a 16-play, 84-yard drive that ate up 7:31 of the third quarter and ended on a 1-yard run by Sean Connors with 52 seconds left in the quarter.

But H/B coach Milt Robinson elected to go for two and the Cavs came up short on the play, trailing 21-20.

With the way the Cavs defense was playing, and the fact that H/B had missed an extra point earlier in the game, Robinson decided that he could take the gamble and go for two points and the lead at that stage.

"I believed in my offensive line, which is what this team was built on, and I wanted to take the lead at that point," he said. "I'm an aggressive coach and I go for it. I thought our offensive line could push us those 2 ½ yards."

After getting pushed around by Bedford in a regular-season loss, H/B went back to its the running game. The Bulldogs held the Cavs to just 77 yards on the ground in the first meeting, but gave up 214 yards rushing this time, 155 of which came from Colin Pellerin.

"They started to hit us with those outside runs," Hines said. "They're a good program and they did a great job. We knew we'd be in for a battle."

The battle started early, as H/B took the opening kickoff and went 60 yards on 10 plays, going up 6-0 on a 2-yard run by Pellerin.

But the Cavs missed the extra point, and when Bedford found the end zone on a 1-yard run by Caparell early in the second quarter, the point after gave the Bulldogs a 7-6 lead.

H/B moved into Bedford territory on its next drive, but was forced to punt and Connors kick went out of bounds, giving the Bulldogs the ball at their own 19. A penalty and a 2-yard loss by Jordan Garron backed Bedford up to its own 7-yard line before H/B's Max Friedman jumped a route, intercepted a Caparell pass and returned it 23 yards for a score. Pellerin got in the end zone on the conversion and the Cavs led 14-7 with 6:02 left in the first half.

But the lead wouldn't last long, as Dylan York returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for the tying touchdown and the teams went into halftime knotted at 14.

"Letting them get a big play after we got a big play was tough," Robinson said. "Letting them score on the first drive of the (second) half was tough."

The Bulldogs were poised to put the game away late in the fourth quarter, getting a first down at the Cavs' 11, but H/B's defense made the stop and got the ball back at its own 26 with 1:55 to play.

Needing just to get in field goal range, the Cavs threw three incompletions, and on fourth down, quarterback Kyle Gervais was as he threw hit by Joe Thibeault, giving the ball back to Bedford.

"I told them (before the game), go out and have fun," Robinson said. "That's what we do this for. It’s a good football team and I'm sad for them that we're not still playing. I'd like one more practice with these guys."

As for Bedford, it picked up a win in its first playoff game and will host the division final Saturday at 1 p.m. against Portsmouth.

"It's a dream come true," Hines said.