Bedford's defense bent early, but never broke against Nashua North

NASHUA - The situation appeared like it called for concern.

The Bedford High School football team was replacing nine starters on a defense that was the best in the state for two years.

And here were the Bulldogs, on the first defensive possession of the season, on the field for almost 10 minutes to start Friday night's game against Nashua North.

But once the Titans moved inside the 10-yard line, the Bulldogs tightened up and forced a field goal attempt that was off the mark. North did it again on its second drive, keeping the ball for almost seven minutes while moving inside the 10.

This time, the Titans made the field goal, but for the Bulldogs, it was a win.

"We weathered the storm a little bit," Bedford coach Zach Matthews said. "When your back is against the wall, you find out who your team is, and I think we found out that some of these guys are ready to play football. That’s exciting for us. It’s exciting to lose as many guys as we did and have this group step in and be ready for the moment."

And although North had the ball for 17 minutes and 35 seconds in the first half, Bedford took a 14-3 lead into halftime. After a flurry of touchdowns late in the third quarter, the Bulldogs had themselves a 35-3 win over the Titans to open their title defense.

"It’s really special," Bedford junior Bennett Matthews said. "We only had two returning starters, so those nine guys really stepped up. Obviously, it’s our first game, so we knew there’d be a couple of nerves. I feel like making that, stopping them on that field goal, not letting them get points there, was special. It gave us momentum to go down the field."

Those first two drives for North were exactly what the Titans' coaching staff wanted to see, except for the end results.

"We came out and did exactly what we wanted to do in the first half," North coach Chad Zibolis said. "People haven’t seen us in a huddle in how many years. That’s what we wanted to do because we needed to keep the ball out of their hands. They’re very dynamic."

Huddling up was one of a handful of things that Zach Matthews wasn't expecting to see when the teams lined up.

"What’s hard is you get two films and the scrimmages have no jersey numbers," the coach said. "You have no idea who is who. Some of the formations they ran (Friday) they didn’t run in the scrimmages.

"That first formation they’re going down the field in, that wasn’t something that we prepared for. We hadn’t seen that on film. That was something special that they came up with for us and that was good for them. I thought once we made the adjustments, we settled in."

Bedford did right away on offense, going on an eight-play, 80-yard drive on its first possession, capped by a 19-yard touchdown run by Brody Helton. On the Bulldogs' second drive, Jack Maye found Dustin Westcott for a 31-yard touchdown.

Helton finished the night with 167 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries, while Maye, a senior making his first varsity start at quarterback, was 6 of 8 passing for 89 yards and three touchdowns.

"That’s Jack’s first varsity start and that’s a testament to him," Zach Matthews said. "He spent three years in the program. He knows the system like the back of his hand. I think that poise and his play is a testament to his dedication. I couldn’t be happier for that kid because he’s waited a long time for this."

Good news for the Bulldogs. For one week, at least, bad news for the rest of Division I.