Bedford's Matthews pushes himself to continue to get better, whether it's football or lacrosse

It's no surprise that Bennett Matthews feels pressure.

But that pressure doesn't come from where you think it would.

It's not because Matthews is ranked as the fifth best boys lacrosse recruit in the nation for the class of 2026. It's not be cause he's committed to continue playing at Duke University after this year.

It's not even because he's now going to be playing quarterback, a position he hasn't played regularly for more than two seasons, when the Bedford High School football team opens its season Friday night at Merrimack.

The pressure Matthews feels is what he puts on himself.

"The pressure is always there, but I feel like I put more pressure on myself than anyone else had one me," he said. "I always want to be the best. I had more pressure from myself, I didn’t really care what anyone else had to say about me. "

Whether it's playing lacrosse in the backyard with his older sister, Olivia, or it's competing with some of those other top recruits at the Premier Lacrosse League's high school combine last January, Matthews has always wanted his performance to standout.

A little more than a year ago, an opportunity presented itself for one of the biggest moments of his life to be in the spotlight.

After a summer spent traversing the country with his New Hampshire Tomahawks club lacrosse team, Matthews was catching the attention of a lot of college coaches. With Sept. 1, and the ability to finally talk to some of those coaches, on the horizon, Matthews was contacted by Mitchell Pehlke, a digital creator and podcast host known for his Instagram reels covering lacrosse.

When midnight rolled around, and calls started to come in, Pehlke was there to grab behind-the-scenes video as Matthews and his parents, Zach and Jacqueline, fielded calls, and shared it on his platforms.

"I feel like a kid from New Hampshire, you don’t hear about them as much coming up the ranks," Matthews said. "Going through that process, once that video came out, it was kind of crazy. The first thing that kind of opened my eyes was that first fall tournament coming off the video. I don’t think I’ve gotten any bad chirps or trash talk, it’s usually going through the handshake line or on the sidelines."

Zach, who is also the Bedford football coach, thought his son handled the attention as best as he could, not only last fall, but in the months since.

"When you’re 17-years-old, and things like that happen, I’ve always talked to him about being even keeled," Zach Matthews said. "I was proud of how he dealt with it, as the year went on especially. If you want to go play lacrosse at a very high level, there’s going to be pressure there as well, and so you’re going to need to learn how to deal with those situations.

"When you show up in Durham (N.C.) and you’re going to be playing Syracuse and Notre Dame, there’s going to be pressure in those environments as well. You might as well get used to it."

Bennett Matthews faces a different kind of pressure this fall, stepping in to play quarterback for the Bulldogs. While he didn't start playing football until sixth grade, it was the position he'd wanted to, and been able to play, up until his freshman year of high school.

That season, Bedford won the Division I championship with Danny Black at quarterback as a junior. Black returned and helped the Bulldogs repeat as a senior.

"We were lucky to have Danny Black when (Bennett) was a sophomore, so he played defense and some receiver," said Zach Matthews said. "Last year, we had Jack Maye, who had waited his turn. Bennett was going through the whole recruiting process and hadn’t been around that whole summer because he’s off playing lacrosse.

"It was really where can we put your athleticism without putting too much on your plate while we’re juggling all those different things. He’s always wanted to get back to playing quarterback, and with the lacrosse recruitment taken off his plate, he’s been able to be there. I think he’s only missed one 7-on-7 this summer, he’s been able to dig more into film study and work more with me on some things."

With one season of football left, Bennett Matthews doesn't just want to show he can be a good quarterback. He wants to help Bedford win a title, something he feels like he hasn't yet done.

"We won back-to-back titles, but I didn’t really have a pivotal role," he said. "Sophomore year, I played defense and started at safety. Going into last year, I felt like, playing receiver, it was important to me to show out and do as much as I could. Then we ended up losing, and that was pretty tough.

"Coming back to quarterback, it really means a lot. My dad played (quarterback) at Plymouth State, and I always wanted to do as a kid. Hopefully, having the opportunity to win a state championship with my dad, as a quarterback, in my senior year would be a storybook ending."