Bedford falls in season finale

Friday, November 11, 2011

Joe Marchilena photo Bedford's Matt Poremba sacks Souhegan quarterback Robby McCormick during Friday's game.

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Joe Marchilena photo Bedford's James Caparell breaks away from Souhegan's Chris Chininis during Friday's game.

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Joe Marchilena photo Bedford's Jordan Garron picks up yards during Friday's game against Souhegan.

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Joe Marchilena photo Bedford's Matt Poremba sacks Souhegan quarterback Robby McCormick during Friday's game.

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One football team looked like a playoff team Friday night at Bedford High School.

Oddly enough, it was the team that was going to miss the postseason.

Souhegan needed just three plays and 48 seconds to go 80 yards on the game’s opening possession, and the Sabers continued to roll throughout, beating Bedford 36-14 in the Division III regular-season finale for both teams.

Robby McCormick was 17 of 32 for 208 yards and two touchdowns for Souhegan (5-3), while Chris Chininis caught seven passes for 122 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 40 yards and another score. The Sabers defense held the Bulldogs (6-2) to just 20 yards in the first half and sacked quarterback James Caparell six times.

“Our guys, from start to finish, played a dominating football game,” Souhegan coach Mike Beliveau said. “Our guys showed up on a mission and that was to make a statement. We wanted to play a playoff team, and not only beat them, but we wanted to beat them good. We accomplished that.”

Bedford coach Kurt Hines could do nothing but shake his head – and be glad his team wrapped up a playoff spot the week before. With Goffstown’s win over Hollis/Brookline last Saturday, the Bulldogs got the No. 2 seed in the playoffs, and will host H/B in the semifinals Saturday at 1 p.m.

“As much as we tried to prepare otherwise, I’m sure that had a factor in it,” Hines said about his team already having a playoff berth. “Hats off to Souhegan. They played a phenomenal game. We didn’t see anything we weren’t expecting, but they just executed really, really well.”

Caparell was 16 of 36 for 180 yards and a touchdown for Bedford, but overthrew several open receivers as he tried to deal with the Sabers’ defensive pressure all night.

The Sabers scored on their first three drives, needing just seven plays on the first two and then putting together an 11-play march that covered 70 yards and put Souhegan up 19-0 before the end of the first quarter.

Part of the Sabers’ success was taking advantage of Bedford’s aggressiveness on defense.

“I think they’re an aggressive defense,” Beliveau said. “The opening play of the game, they dialed up a blitz and we caught them upfield. We’re the kind of team, we get life like that early, that’s the way we play.”

Bedford got on the board in the second quarter, when Caparell found Brian Collins for a 15-yard score, but Souhegan made it 22-7 on Cameron Crook’s 29-yard field goal with 8.6 seconds left in the half.

After Bedford was forced to punt on the opening drive of the second half, Souhegan made it 30-7 on Jason Doheny’s 32-yard touchdown run and McCormick’s pass to Chininis was good for the two-point conversion.

The Bulldogs cut the lead to 30-14 on a 30-yard touchdown run by Jordan Garron with 5:23 left in the third quarter, but the Bedford offense sputtered after that, thanks in part to two third-down sacks by Souhegan’s Jake Kennedy. Bedford punted on its next drive and turned the ball over on downs on its final three.

“As much as I wanted to win, I’m glad to see Mike do well,” said Hines, who was an assistant at Souhegan with Beliveau for seven seasons. “I’m happy for them, but we’ve got a lot of work to do. I’m an optimist. We’ll use this to spring us forward and we’ll get back to work.”