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# Portsmouth rolls over Bedford to win D3 football title
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/portsmouth-rolls-over-bedford-to-win-d3-football-title/
- Published: 2011-11-20T00:51:53.000Z
- Updated: 2011-11-20T00:51:53.000Z
- Description: BEDFORD - Billy Lane ran for 128 yards and three touchdowns and the Portsmouth High School football team finally captured that elusive Division III title, beating Bedford 41-6 on Saturday.
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division II, Fall Sports, Bedford, Division III, football, playoffs, Portsmouth, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/bc/58/bc5866d0-9fd9-4113-b959-670d6f16471d/content/images/www-nh-highschoolsports-com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/bhsfball1119-p24-34.jpg "BHSfball1119 P24-34")

BEDFORD - Billy Lane ran for 128 yards and three touchdowns and the Portsmouth High School football team finally captured that elusive Division III title, beating Bedford 41-6 on Saturday.

It was the Clippers' fourth straight title game appearance - the previous three ended in losses to Souhegan - and fifth in six years, and the first title for Portsmouth since 1981, when it won the Division I title.

Lane scored two of his touchdowns in the first half as No. 4 Portsmouth (8-3) built up a 20-0 lead and the Clippers' defense held No. 2 Bedford to minus-5 yards of offense in the first 24 minutes. The Bulldogs finished with minus-63 yards rushing, thanks to five Portsmouth sacks of quarterback James Caparell.

While Caparell was 16 of 30 for 231 yards and a touchdown, he was forced out of the pocket several times and was plagued by a number of drops. Bedford (7-4) got a big game from Brian Collins, who caught seven passes for 132 yards, but not much else offensively.

"We had a real hard time moving the ball, obviously, and they were bringing a lot of pressure," Bedford coach Kurt Hines said. "We just couldn't stop them. The pressure they brought with four down linemen and the backers, that was huge. They did a real good job."

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/bc/58/bc5866d0-9fd9-4113-b959-670d6f16471d/content/images/www-nh-highschoolsports-com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/bhsfball1119-b5-4.jpg "BHSfball1119 B5-4")

Bill Hartmann was 10 of 17 for 133 yards and a score for Portsmouth, while Peter Hamblett had a touchdown rushing and another score receiving.

"I think the kids really wanted it," Portsmouth coach Bill Murphy said. "I think we had something to prove. The ball got rolling and when the ball got rolling, everybody fed off each other. I didn't expect that. I hoped to win, but I didn't expect that we'd be able to do as well as we did."

Portsmouth (8-3) got off to a slow start, as both of its first two drives ended in a lost fumble. Bedford (7-4) let the Clippers off the hook both times, getting nothing out of the takeaways.

The game was scoreless in the second quarter when Portsmouth cranked up the pressure on defense. A third-down sack of Caparell and a short punt gave the Clippers the ball at Bedford's 41, and on the first play, Lane took the option pitch from Hartmann and went the distance to put the Clippers up 7-0.

Another third-down sack forced a Bedford punt, but the Bulldogs appeared to get a break when Hamblett fumbled the fair catch and they recovered. But an inadvertent whistle before the fumble forced a replay of the down, and this time, Collins couldn't get the punt off, giving Portsmouth the ball at the Bulldogs' 16-yard line.

Lane scored again on the first play to make it 14-0, and two Bedford fumbles led to field goals by Charlie Duprey, making it 20-0 Portsmouth at halftime.

Bedford's offense finally started to move in the third quarter, but after the Bulldogs drove down to the Portsmouth 32, Caparell was strip-sacked and Portsmouth Ricky Holt recovered to end the drive.

The Bulldogs forced a three-and-out and got in the end zone on a 36-yard pass from Caparell to Collins, but an injury to kicker Mike Gardiner forced Bedford to go for two. Caparell's run came up short, making it 20-6 Portsmouth with 4:39 left in the third.

The Clippers answered right back on Hartmann's 14-yard scoring pass to Hamblett and Portsmouth poured it on in the fourth quarter.

"They've gone through disappointment a number of times and they've worked hard for this," Murphy said. "This is something that we've really wanted and we've come that close. We got over the hump. Once we got the ball rolling, we fed off the emotion."