Fourth-quarter score lifts Bedford football past Goffstown

BEDFORD - Mike Vailas had at least 10 yards of open turf in front of him, but instead of running, the Bedford High School quarterback kept his eyes downfield.

With plenty of time to throw, Vailas pointed once before firing a pass to Andrew Penaskovic in the end zone, and the senior split end made the catch for a 26-yard touchdown reception that proved to be the difference in the Bulldogs' 17-10 win Saturday night against Goffstown.

Not too long again, the pass would never have happened.

"That play he made, the touchdown pass, I don't think two weeks ago, he would have made that happen," Bedford coach Kurt Hines said. "He would have made something happen, but he would have scrambled.

"That's the play I’m most proud of him with. He is such a threat on the ground and does such a good job making something out of nothing, but we've been working a lot in practice with him trusting his line and staying in the pocket and looking for things to happen."

Vailas made a lot happen for Bedford (6-0), as he was 12 of 15 passing for 165 yards and the touchdown, to go with 75 yards rushing on 21 carries. The senior captain even caught two passes for 11 yards, as Tyler Ciabotti got the start at quarterback and was 5 of 8 for 20 yards and ran four times for 11 more.

"It was a little bit of a surprise," Goffstown coach Justin Hufft said. "I know (Ciabotti) can throw the ball pretty well. He's a great thrower, so I thought that might be an option, but I was surprised by it. But when they put Vailas back at quarterback, they were clicking a little better and he had a couple of great throws that really hurt us."

The Grizzlies (3-3) were also hurt by a handful of incomplete passes in the second half, including one where quarterback Casey Gervais had Franklin Castillo Diaz wide open, racing down the middle of the field, but the ball was a little overthrown and glanced off Castillo Diaz's fingertips.

Gervais finished the game 12 of 31 for 138 yards, but was just 2 of 15 for 11 yards in the second half.

"It's hard to beat a team when you're doing that," Hufft said. "(Gervais) threw it a little too early and overthrew him. It was barely off his fingertips. They did their best and just missed. If we can make those players, maybe it's a different story.

"We played hard and I was pleased with the effort. I thought we had a good plan going in and the kids made plays, especially in the first half, it just wasn't quite enough."

Goffstown got 111 yards rushing and a touchdown from Connor Bourque and Christian Marquis had six catches for 82 yards, but the Grizzlies had just 79 yards of offense in the second half.

Samuel Heidenreich gave Goffstown a 3-0 lead on a 28-yard field goal in the first quarter and the Grizzlies' defense turned Bedford over on downs on the Bulldogs' first two drives.

But, as its done all season, Bedford's defense was bending and not breaking as well, and in the second quarter, on third-and-2 from the Bulldogs' 29-yard line, Bourque picked up enough for the first down, but lost the football. Conor Harrison recovered for Bedford at the 26 and Vailas made his first appearance at quarterback on the ensuing drive.

A facemask penalty move the Bulldogs to their own 47 and Vailas picked up another 21 yards on the ground, cutting back across the play to get the first down. Seven plays later, Sean Tierney ran it in from 4 yards out to put Bedford up 7-3 with 4:25 left in the first half.

"Tyler (Ciabotti) has been doing a real good job and we wanted to throw a wrinkle in there to other teams, to see that we have several different threats, and to make sure we were utilizing Mike (Vailas) as best we could," Hines said. "He did well in both positions and Tyler stepped up. I realized in the second quarter, we had to put Mike back at quarterback."

Goffstown answered by going 69 yards in six plays, as Bourque scored on an 18-yard run to put the Grizzlies back on top, 10-7, with 2:57 to go until halftime.

Bedford came right back, as Vailas found Penaskovic on the Bulldogs' first play for a 55-yard completion down to Goffstown's 26. The Bulldogs ended up with a first-and-goal from the 10, but had to settle for a 28-yard field goal from Cooper Anibal, and the teams went into halftime tied 10-10.

Neither team could solve the others' defense, until Bedford's touchdown with 7:11 left to play. Facing second-and-15 from the Goffstown 26, Vailas took the snap and began to move to his right, but stopped and looked back to his left. The line gave him plenty of time and Penaskovic was able to get open to the pass.

"This was the toughest game yet and we knew coming into the game that this team was for real," Hines said. "They proved it. Our guys had to fight for everything, literally, until the last seconds of the game. I’m proud of them."