BEDFORD, N.H. – With a consistent rushing attack on one side and an inconsistent one on the other, Bedford’s victory over Manchester Central on Friday night seemed inevitable at times, even if the scoreboard didn’t make that immediately apparent.
Bedford sent the Little Green home with a 35-14 defeat, with four of the Bulldogs’ five touchdowns on the night coming after the half.
That only first-half score came from quarterback Joseph Mikol, a quick run just off the goal line capping off a nine-play, 38-yard drive. That scoring drive erased any momentum Central obtained from a blocked 27-yard Bedford field goal attempt earlier in the half, but the hosts could not capitalize outside Mikol’s score despite putting up nearly three times as much yardage (129 to 44) over the first two quarters.
That discrepancy in yardage totals continued in the second half, but the second half also brought a wider gap on the scoreboard as well, beginning with Solomon Sanchez and his one-yard score on the Bulldogs’ first drive after the break.
Russell Erwin added a third Bulldog touchdown on the next drive, a 32-yard rushing score, with Erwin and Sanchez adding additional goal line running touchdowns on Bedford’s fourth and fifth drives of the half, respectively.
Erwin finished the night with 106 rushing yards in the second half alone and 158 in total, compared with just 57 for the entire contest from all Central rushers combined.
Bedford Head Coach Zach Matthews says Erwin’s performance came in large part as a response to an ankle sprain suffered by senior running back Sonny Elie.
“Russell’s definitely a physical runner for us and he really carried the load,” said Matthews. “Usually we kind of rotate two backs and Russell was definitely rotated into the bulk of the work because Sonny hurt his ankle. Russell did a great job.”
The Bulldogs also struck through the air, with Mikol completing 16-of-23 passes for 207 yards.
Central’s pair of scores both came late through the air with Aiden Kelly converting a four-yard reception as well as 33-yard reception into touchdowns on throws from Jayden Hann and Joshua Jerome, respectively.
While Jerome received most of the snaps for the Little Green, Central Head Coach Ryan Rae sees a role for both quarterbacks this season.
“We just kept chucking it up and we have a couple of good quarterbacks and a couple of good skill guys, so we kept throwing it up and eventually good plays happened,” said Rae. “I would imagine that we’ll play both of our guys (at quarterback) for the rest of the year, depending on health.”
Next Friday, Central (0-2) will host Exeter at Gill Stadium while Bedford (1-1) travels to defending Division I State Champion Londonderry.
