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# Plenty for Bedford football to learn from win over Londonderry
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/plenty-for-bedford-football-to-learn-from-win-over-londonderry/
- Published: 2020-10-14T12:00:08.000Z
- Updated: 2020-10-14T12:00:08.000Z
- Description: There were a lot of things for Zach Matthews to like last Friday night after his Bedford High School football team's 26-7 win over Londonderry. The Bulldogs forced five turnovers, scoring off three of them, and with the help of 10 penalties on the Lancers, held Londonderry's offense in check long en
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division I, Bedford, football, NH High School Sports Insider, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

There were a lot of things for Zach Matthews to like last Friday night after his Bedford High School football team's 26-7 win over Londonderry.

The Bulldogs forced five turnovers, scoring off three of them, and with the help of 10 penalties on the Lancers, held Londonderry's offense in check long enough to snap its 14-game winning streak.

Quarterback Joe Mikol turned in another solid performance throwing the ball, completing 17 of 29 passes for 149 yards and a touchdown, with Solomon Sanchez and Dylan Kumbani serving as his top targets. Mikol also kicked field goals of 20 and 34 yards while Sanchez had two rushing touchdowns and Kumbani caught one.

"We're trying to grow every single week," Matthews said. "To have the opportunity to play Londonderry, and play as well as we did, it's going to be a positive. But there's still so many things to improve on."

While Bedford (2-1) was able to move the ball through the air, it struggled in the run game, picking up just 62 yards on 27 carries, with 27 of those yards coming on one run by Russell Erwin.

And while Mikol connected on two field goals, the Bulldogs also had two kicks - a field goal and an extra point - blocked. They were able to cash in on Londonderry's turnovers, Matthews felt like his team could have had more.

Bedford took a 3-0 lead in the first quarter after it recovered a fumbled punt at Londonderry's 12-yard line. Another special teams miscue by the Lancers gave the Bulldogs the ball at Londonderry's 30, and Bedford had to settle for another field goal on that drive.

"We could have put that game away," Matthews said. "The biggest thing for us is understanding to have a shift in mindset (on short fields). The field gets compressed, the defense brings more pressure and gives different looks. We can't be surprised with pressure."

It looked like some of those moments might haunt Bedford in the second half, after Londonderry took some momentum into halftime with a last-minute touchdown.

The Lancers got the ball to start the second half and went on a 10-play drive, getting down to the Bedford 24-yard line. But facing fourth-and-3, the Bulldogs stopped Hayden Austin a yard short of a first down.

Three plays later, Londonderry had another chance, recovering a Bedford fumble at the Bulldogs' 28.

After picking up five yards on first down, Londonderry was called for an illegal formation and then threw three straight incompletions to give the ball back to Bedford.

"You don't play an offensive team like Londonderry and expect them to go three and out every time," Matthews said. "They're going to get a play here or there. We have to continue to play and believe we're going to stop them eventually.

"It's a credit to our kids, keeping focused and not getting down on themselves. We made plays when they got close to the red zone."

Leading the way for Bedford's defense was senior inside linebacker Hayden Cheney, who picked off Londonderry's Dylan McEachern on the Lancers' first drive. Matthews also like the play of Kumbani at safety, along with junior safety Finn O'Neil.

"He was making his first varsity start," Matthews said. "Londonderry puts pressure on the edge with its triple option and speed sweeps. Our safeties were outstanding coming down on edge plays. (And) Hayden Cheney is a great communicator. He's one of our heart-and-soul guys."

Bedford returns home on Friday to take on Concord, which has struggled this season, having been outscored 91-20 in three games.

"As a coaching staff, we're keeping the pressure on the kids," Matthews said. "We have to have them on their heels a little bit. They look at records and they look at film. It's an opportunity to get better. We only have five weeks to figure it out."