Cavaliers come up a point short

Friday, November 18, 2011

Staff photos by JOE MARCHILENA Hollis/Brookline's Jonah Chazin watches as Bedford's Alex Ewing celebrates after recovering a fumble during the fourth quarter of Saturday's Division III semifinal. Bedford held on to win 21-20.

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Staff photos by JOE MARCHILENA Hollis/Brookline's Max Friedman breaks up a pass to Bedford's Brian Collins during Saturday's Division III semifinal.

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Staff photos by JOE MARCHILENA Hollis/Brookline's Colin Pellerin hits the hole during the second half of Saturday's Division III semifinal.

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Staff photos by JOE MARCHILENA Hollis/Brookline's Jonah Chazin watches as Bedford's Alex Ewing celebrates after recovering a fumble during the fourth quarter of Saturday's Division III semifinal. Bedford held on to win 21-20.

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BEDFORD – When it came down to it, Milt Robinson put his faith on the foundation of the Hollis/Brookline High School football team – the offensive line.

But despite averaging better than 6 yards a carry all day, the Cavaliers couldn’t pick up the yards when they needed them most.

H/B went for two after scoring late in the third quarter, but came up short on the play and on the scoreboard, falling to Bedford 21-20 in the Division III semifinal Saturday at Bedford High School.

The win puts No. 2 Bedford (7-3), which was playing in its first playoff game in program history, in the title game against No. 4 Portsmouth (7-3) on Saturday at Bedford. Portsmouth beat No. 1 Goffstown 34-8 in the other semifinal.

With the way the Cavs defense was playing, and the fact that H/B had missed an extra point earlier in the game, Robinson decided that he could take the gamble and go for two points and the lead at that stage.

“I believed in my offensive line, which is what this team was built on, and I wanted to take the lead at that point,” he said. “I’m an aggressive coach and I go for it. I thought our offensive line could push us those 2 ½ yards.”

After getting pushed around by Bedford in a regular-season loss, H/B went back to its bread and butter – the running game. The Bulldogs held the Cavs to just 77 yards on the ground in the first meeting, but gave up 214 yards rushing this time, 155 of which came from Colin Pellerin.

H/B was at its best on that third-quarter scoring drive.

James Caparell gave Bedford a 21-14 lead, scoring on a 27-yard run on the first possession of the second half.

The Cavs answered with a 16-play, 84-yard drive that ate up 7:31 of the third quarter and ended on a 1-yard run by Sean Connors. On the drive, H/B converted three third downs.

“They started to hit us with those outside runs,” Bedford coach Kurt Hines said. “They’re a good program and they did a great job. We knew we’d be in for a battle.”

The battle started early, as H/B took the opening kickoff and went 60 yards on 10 plays, going up 6-0 on a 2-yard run by Pellerin.

But the Cavs missed the extra point, and when Bedford found the end zone on a 1-yard run by Caparell early in the second quarter, the point after gave the Bulldogs a 7-6 lead.

H/B moved into Bedford territory on its next drive, but was forced to punt and Connors kick went out of bounds, giving the Bulldogs the ball at their own 19.

A penalty and a 2-yard loss by Jordan Garron backed Bedford up to its own 7-yard line before H/B’s Max Friedman jumped a route, intercepted a Caparell pass and returned it 23 yards for a score. Pellerin got in the end zone on the conversion and the Cavs led 14-7 with 6:02 left in the first half.

But the lead wouldn’t last long, as Dylan York returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for the tying touchdown and the teams went into halftime knotted at 14.

“You tell them the best way to take the wind out of their sails is to take one to the house right after they score,” Hines said.

“Letting them get a big play after we got a big play was tough,” Robinson said. “Letting them score on the first drive of the (second) half was tough.”

The Bulldogs were poised to put the game away late in the fourth quarter, getting a first down at the Cavs’ 11, but H/B’s defense made the stop and got the ball back at its own 26 with 1:55 to play.

Needing just to get in field goal range, the Cavs threw three incompletions, and on fourth down, quarterback Kyle Gervais was as he threw hit by Joe Thibeault, giving the ball back to Bedford.

“I told them (before the game), go out and have fun,” Robinson said. “That’s what we do this for. It’s a good football team and I’m sad for them that we’re not still playing. I’d like one more practice with these guys.”