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# Defense, momentum swings gave Goffstown a successful return to football
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/defense-momentum-swings-gave-goffstown-a-successful-return-to-football/
- Published: 2021-09-28T20:15:00.000Z
- Updated: 2021-09-28T20:15:00.000Z
- Description: Rob Baguidy has worn a Goffstown High School jersey plenty of times in the last three-plus years, but Saturday afternoon was just the second time the senior had football pads on underneath one. It was tough to tell the way Baguidy played in the first half of the Grizzlies' 28-7 win over Bedford. Wi
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division I, Bedford, football, Goffstown, NH High School Sports Insider, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

Rob Baguidy has worn a Goffstown High School jersey plenty of times in the last three-plus years, but Saturday afternoon was just the second time the senior had football pads on underneath one.

It was tough to tell the way Baguidy played in the first half of the Grizzlies' 28-7 win over Bedford.

With Goffstown up a touchdown early in the second quarter, and the Bulldogs on the verge of starting a drive, Bedford quarterback Joe Mikol threw deep down the middle of the field for teammate Andrew Grudinskas. Baguidy, who has been on the Grizzlies' varsity basketball team since his freshman year, beat out Grudinskas for the jump ball, giving Goffstown a first down at its own 27-yard line.

On the next play, quarterback Josh Webb hit Peyton Strickland with a slant that Strickland took 73 yards for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead.

"He’s getting better every day," Goffstown coach Nick Hammond said of Baguidy. "It’s impressive. We knew he was a special athlete. To see him pick up football this quickly has been impressive. He’s a special player. He has great spatial awareness."

Baguidy wasn't done.

The kickoff following Strickland's touchdown went out of bounds, giving Bedford the ball at its own 42\. The Bulldogs quickly crossed midfield and a 7-yard run by Owen Christopher on third-and-4 gave them a first down at the Grizzlies' 31-yard line.

Mikol tried to go back to Grudinskas along the sideline, but Baguidy got a great jump on the ball, when the Bedford receiver bobbled it, he was able to grab it out of the air for his second interception of the day.

Those two picks were the first of five on the day for the Grizzlies, as Aaron Duval, Adam Lydick and Will Sasso also had interceptions.

"Defensively, I thought we did a great job," Hammond said. "Coach (Mike) Leonard and the rest of the defensive staff put a great plan together to try to slow these guys down. I’m really proud of that."

Bedford finished with 309 yards on offense, but a lot of that was piled up between the 20-yard lines. The Bulldogs crossed midfield on seven of their 11 possessions, but got inside the Goffstown 30-yard line on three of those drives.

"They controlled the line of scrimmage very well," Bedford coach Zach Matthews said. "I felt like we weren’t staying on our blocks very well. Both of those kids (Strickland and Antonio Kapos) were difficult to block."

Strickland finished with two touchdowns and both helped swing momentum Goffstown's way at key moments.

Bedford's best drive of the first half saw the Bulldogs get to the Goffstown 13, but the offense stalled and Mikol's 29-yard field goal attempt was wide left. Taking over at the 20-yard line, Strickland came out at quarterback to start the Grizzlies' drive.

After running for no gain on first down, the senior dropped back to throw and hit Jonah Lopez deep for a 50-yard completion.

"We knew we were going to call that pass at some point during that drive," Hammond said. "We thought it would give us the ability to flip the field and the momentum would be with us going into the half, especially with them getting the football (to start the second half)."

On the next play, Strickland caught a pass from Webb for a 30-yard touchdown.

"He’s a special freak athlete," Matthews said. "He made two plays on his own, where he ran through where we didn’t wrap up. He’s going to make you look bad. He’s a real problem to match up with. You don’t have one kid to match up with him. He’s a big physical kid."