On the Gridiron: Bourque's big plays helped Goffstown football

Coach Justin Hufft has gotten used to watching Connor Bourque make big plays all over the field for the Goffstown High School football team.

In Saturday's win over Bedford, those plays looked a lot different than they usually do.

The Bulldogs were able to hold Bourque in check for most of the day, as the senior had just 66 yards rushing and a touchdown on 18 carries. While he picked up tough yards at times between the tackles, Bourque's only big run - a 55-yard touchdown jaunt - was called back on an illegal shift.

Instead, Bourque made his big plays on special teams.

After Bedford took a 14-10 lead in the second quarter, the Grizzlies ran some misdirection on the kickoff, with Bourque being the second of two guys to receive a fake handoff. Once the ball went to teammate Franklin Castillo Diaz, Bourque raced down the sideline with him, throwing two key blocks that helped spring Castillo Diaz for the touchdown.

Then, when Bedford was forced to punt on its next possession, Bourque burst through the middle to block the kick, which was recovered by Ian Routhier for a 12-yard touchdown return.

"On the punt, we saw something on film that we thought we could exploit and the kids came through and made the play," Hufft said. "The kids executed and did those couple of things really well."

Those two plays, plus a few others on special teams, hurt the Bulldogs, who were battling some injuries.

"Those were guys who are on special teams," Bedford coach Derek Stank said of the two injured starters. "Some of the JVs had to come in and fill those roles. It hurt us a little bit. They have great returners, which always make the special teams a little bit tough."

Monkey wrench

Winnacunnet's 17-7 win over Pinkerton not only kept the Warriors' chances at the postseason alive, it also created a much cloudier situation in the race for the playoffs.

In the East/South cluster, Exeter (6-0) and Pinkerton (5-1) are well on their way to winning their respective conferences. Not only is each in first alone, it also holds the tiebreaker in most cases, the lone exception being Pinkerton and Timberlane, who will play Friday. A win in that game would all but wrap up the South Conference for the Astros, regardless of what happens in the season finale against Exeter.

What happens with every other team is much more complicated, as there are four teams battling for two spots.

Salem (4-2) is in the best position, thanks to its head-to-head wins over Winnacunnet (3-3) and Timberlane (4-2), and the Blue Devils could take a big step toward securing a playoff spot with a win over Merrimack (4-2) on Friday. The Tomahawks, meanwhile, face the toughest road, finishing the season at Salem, and with home games against Exeter and Timberlane.

Timberlane hosts Spaulding (0-6) in between games at Pinkerton and at Merrimack, while Winnacunnet has games against Portsmouth, Londonderry and Spaulding, teams that are a combined 3-15.

On the road

Unless Goffstown slips up twice in its final three games, Bedford is looking at going on the road for the quarterfinals, despite a potential 8-1 record. And not only would the Bulldogs be on the road, they'll be playing a team they've already beaten by 20-plus points.

As the second playoff team out of the North Conference, Bedford would play the winner of the West Conference, which will either be Bishop Guertin (4-2) or Nashua North (4-2). Those two play each other on Friday.

Bedford defeated North in the opener, 48-0, and knocked off Bishop Guertin 43-22.

Up ...

• Bishop Guertin/Nashua North: Each is riding a three-game winning streak into Friday's showdown, which takes place at 7 p.m. at Stellos Stadium. The Cardinals have been winning with offense, putting up an average of 49 points in those wins, while North has been tough defensively, allowing 18.3 in the same stretch.

And Down ...

• Concord: The Crimson Tide likely saw their playoff hopes go up in smoke in last week's loss to North. Concord has dropped two of three, with the lone win a nine-point victory over a Manchester Memorial (0-6) that lost its other games by an average of 27 points.

Madden Stat of the Week: Jordan Hiscoe, of Bishop Guertin, had 194 yards passing and three touchdowns on just 10 of 13 passing in the Cardinals win over Memorial.