Bishop Guertin football hangs on to beat Nashua North (video)

NASHUA - All season long, the Bishop Guertin High School football team has done whatever it takes to win.

Against Nashua North on Friday, the Cardinals needed a few things to go their way on top of that.

After being up two touchdowns with over seven minutes remaining, Bishop Guertin found itself clinging to a one-point lead less than four minutes later, as the Titans lined up to kick the game-tying extra point.

But the kick was wide left - one of six missed kicks on the night - and the Cardinals were able to run out the clock to preserve a 26-25 win over North in a Division I West Conference game at Stellos Stadium.

"You’ve got to be able to win games in every which way, shape or form," Bishop Guertin coach John Trisciani said. "If one week, it’s the defense that carries us, maybe the next week it’s the offense that steps up, maybe the next week, it’s special teams. It doesn’t really matter how it happens.

"Better lucky than good sometimes."

The Cardinals (5-1) made it through the first five weeks of the season playing well in all three phases, but on this night, they turned the ball over three times, including a fumble by quarterback Matt Santosuosso that North's Luke Peters returned 74 yards for a touchdown.

Bishop Guertin was able to record three takeaways of its own, but special teams struggled as well, as the Cardinals missed two extra points - one of which was blocked - and a 25-yard field goal. And after North (3-3) scored with 5:20 remaining to make it a seven-point game, the Cardinals failed to pick up a short kickoff that was recovered by the Titans, setting up another score.

"There were a lot of points (left on the field)," Trisiciani said. "The special teams for us, for the first five games, we’ve been really good. (Friday) special teams was an issue, which was disappointing. You see the blocked extra point or missed extra point, and the first thing everybody thinks is you hope that’s not going to come back and bite you. We do a little better and it’s not a one-point game at the end."

Santosuosso finished the game with 156 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries and he also recorded an interception on defense and forced a fumble after a long pass play from North's Derek Finlay to Jack Peters.

Charlie Bellavance added 158 yards on 29 carries and also got a fortuitous bounce in the third quarter, when he lost a fumble at the Titans' 25-yard line, but teammate Adam Gnanou was there to recover it and score. That made it 20-12 Bishop Guertin 8:57 left in the third.

"I’m watching it and I’m like how do you explain that," Trisciani said. "Luckily the kid was hustling and following the play. Luckily we’ve done some stuff with fumbles and scooping the ball up in practice. You can get lucky, but you can’t be banking on those things happening."

Finlay was 15 of 21 passing for 208 yards with two touchdowns and an interception for North, while also getting an interception on defense. The two scores went to Nick DiGesse, who had seven catches for 104 yards, with both touchdowns coming in the fourth quarter.

On the first one, DiGesse went up over two Bishop Guertin defenders to snatch the ball away in the end zone for a 35-yard scoring reception. That cut the Cardinals' lead to 26-19 with 5:20 to play, and the Titans took all the momentum on the kickoff, when Dionard Toplana's kick went high in the air and landed in the middle of several Bishop Guertin players.

North's Toby Brown, Jr., was the first one to the ball, recovering it at the Cardinals' 38-yard line. Then on fourth-and-5, Finlay hit DiGesse for a short gain, but the North receiver broke a tackle and outran the defense for a 33-yard touchdown with 3:32 left in the game.

The Titans lined up for the extra point and Toplana's kick had plenty of height and distance, but it was just a bit wide to the left.

"That’s football," North coach Dante Laurendi said. "They made some mistakes, which definitely helped us, and we capitalized until we stopped. We didn’t help ourselves. We made some mental mistakes that won’t be glaring to the fans, but guys out of position, missed assignments. Some mental errors that hurt us and you can’t do that against a team like that.

"Our kids played really hard. We have to clean up some of the mental mistakes and snafus that are hurting us. The little things caught up to us."

Bishop Guertin took a 7-0 lead on a 5-yard run by Santosuosso with 5:14 left in the first quarter, but North answered with a touchdown drive of its own, as Jordyn Raisanen-Andino (11 carries, 49 yards) scored on a 1-yard run. The kick was no good, leaving the Cardinals with a 7-6 lead.

It looked like Bishop Guertin was driving for another score, but on third-and-11 at North's 24, Santosuosso was swarmed by three Titans behind the line and lost the ball. Peters scooped it up and went untouched for the score, but the kick was no good again, making it 12-7 Titans.

Santosuosso answered on the next drive with a 3-yard touchdown run, but this time the Cardinals' Connor Lennon missed the PAT, leaving Bishop Guertin up 13-12.

The Cardinals ended the half with a 13-play, 70-yard drive that stalled inside the North 15, but a 25-yard field goal attempt by Lennon was short and Bishop Guertin took the one-point lead into halftime.

"It’s hard to keep things in perspective after the game, but we ultimately try to be like ‘hey, we won the game,'" Trisciani said. "We’re 5-1, we beat both Nashua teams for the first time in a long time. I can’t remember the last time BG beat North. The Nashua kids get up for these games. Everybody views it as a rivalry. We want to win every game. We’re in a good spot and hopefully put ourselves in a good position."