> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # On the Gridiron: Grounded Bedford football able to rally - URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/on-the-gridiron-grounded-bedford-football-able-to-rally/ - Published: 2015-11-11T16:30:58.000Z - Updated: 2015-11-11T16:30:58.000Z - Description: It wasn't time to panic for the Bedford High School football team. Down 21-3 at the end of the first quarter in Saturday's Division I quarterfinal against Bishop Guertin, there was still plenty of time for the Bulldogs to go to their running game to close the gap, and that's what they did. After fal - Author: Joe Marchilena - Tags: Fall Sports, Division I, Division II, football, On the Gridiron, playoffs, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44 It wasn't time to panic for the Bedford High School football team. Down 21-3 at the end of the first quarter in Saturday's Division I quarterfinal against Bishop Guertin, there was still plenty of time for the Bulldogs to go to their running game to close the gap, and that's what they did. After falling behind by 18 points, Bedford ran the ball on its first four plays, setting up a touchdown pass from Connor Robert to Shahrukh Hussain. In all, the Bulldogs ran the ball on 42 of their 61 plays, not including two sacks by the Bishop Guertin defense. The Bulldogs tied the game at 27 on a 1-yard run by Robert on the first play of the fourth quarter, the second of 16 straight running plays by Bedford to end the game. "We got back to the ground and we were able to hand it off to a good running back," Bedford coach Derek Stank said. "We were able to rely on five seniors up front and get the momentum rolling. We noticed they had a lot of three-techs going, so we started punching it up the gut, then we started going outside. It was just a matter of getting back to the ground-and-pound." Bedford rushed for over three hundred yards against the Cardinals, nearly two hundred of that from running back Nick Leahy. "I knew they were going to wear us down," Bishop Guertin coach Jeff Moore said. "They've got more guys, they've got bigger guys. Their offensive line is great. Derek does a great job with their zone scheme. They do so many different things. It's so hard to prepare for. It's a lot." ### All or nothing After the Cardinals missed the extra point following their second touchdown Saturday, Moore opted to go for two on three of the team's final four scores. While Bishop Guertin was successful on the first try, which made it 21-3, it failed to convert on the final two. There was a bad snap on one of the tries that kept it a seven-point game early in the third quarter, and after the Cardinals scored with 3:04 left, JT Hiscoe's pass to Dylan Fagan was short of the goal line. On the final attempt, Nick Lorden ran a fade to the left corner of the end zone, but Hiscoe's pass was knocked away by Bedford's Connor Collins. Even if Lorden had caught the pass, he might not have come down with it inbounds. "Our kicking game was inconsistent and we felt we had a better chance putting the ball in JT's hands and our receivers," Moore said. ### Quick turnaround Dante Laurendi took over a Nashua North program this year that hadn't won more than five games in a season, or made the playoffs, since 2010. But after a 1-2 start, the Titans won five of their final six regular season games to finish 6-3 and reach the Division I playoffs. North will have a shot at finishing with seven wins on Thanksgiving Day against Nashua South, a game the Titans haven't won since 2012. "We had real good senior leadership and hopefully our younger guys can take that over," Laurendi said following Saturday's playoff loss to Goffstown. "We have a good number coming back. We're going to lose key guys like any team. Hopefully we can build on the success we had this year." ### Streak snapped Milford's win over Souhegan ended a pair of losing streaks the Spartans likely wanted to forget. The 20-13 win over the Sabers was Milford's first postseason victory over its rivals in four tries, and the first time they've met in the playoffs since 2010\. It was also the first playoff win for the Spartans since the 2004 Division III semifinals, snapping an eight-game playoff losing streak. In 23 total meetings with Souhegan, it was just the fourth time Milford has won, but the third in the last four games.