The Alvirne High School football squad nearly put an end to the Bedford Bulldogs two-year unbeaten streak, but came up 10-points shy in the final minutes of their quarterfinal contest at Bedford High School on Saturday, falling to the home team 24-14.
The Broncos were coming off a very well executed 33-10 victory over the Concord Crimson Tide one week earlier, in the first round of the NHIAA Division I Championship, and for a good part of the quarterfinal match-up against BHS, it looked like they’d be moving on the semi-finals, but Bedford was able to pull out of a 14-14 tie in the final minutes of the fourth quarter for the win.
The Broncos finished the season with seven wins and four losses and were able to accomplish two very significant achievements. They hosted their very first Division I playoff game and the made it into their first quarterfinal game as a Division I team.
Coming into the game, AHS was seeded in the eighth spot, while Bedford earned the number one spot, by virtue of their second-straight perfect season. The win moved the team to 10-0 for the year.
The Broncos controlled all but the final minutes of the first half, scoring once in each quarter for a seven-point lead.
Junior running back Mike Landmesser finished with 77-yards rushing and a touchdown.
Senior quarterback Charlie Crawford went 13-28 in his final game of the season and finished with 123-yards passing. Crawford had one touchdown pass in the game, to senior Quintin Tetreault.
The Broncos shocked the Bedford fans in the first part of the game, intercepting a pass in the Bulldogs initial drive.
On third-and-six at the Broncos 26-yard-line, senior Ryan Rocheleau picked off a pass at the AHS 30-yard line to spoil a BHS first-possession drive.
It then took just seven plays for the Broncos to get into the Bedford endzone for a 6-0 lead.
On the first play, Landmesser had a 27-yard run to the BHS 40-yard-line, followed by a 15-yard pass to Rocheleau.
The drive also featured a big 16-yard reception by senior tight-end Garrett Hall.
The drive ended with a four-yard touchdown run by Landmesser.
The extra-point was wide by senior kicker Shawn Boudreau for a 6-0 early lead.
The Broncos defense was able to successfully defend the following Bedford drive, forcing a fourth and six at their 28-yard line where they took over on downs at the 25-yard line.
Alvirne penalties negated a strong start to their second drive, forcing a punt after 10-plays, giving BHS the ball at their 21-yard line.
The Bronco had another strong defensive stand, giving their team the ball back after just three plays.
Starting their third drive of the game with seven minutes left in the game, Alvirne marched down field in 12-plays for their second touchdown of the game.
The drive feature six Landmesser running plays, an 18-yard pass to Rocheleau for a first down and a pass to the wide-open Tetreault for a six-yard touchdown.
The Broncos made it a 14-0 lead with two-pointconversion pass to Tetreault, who was once again left wide-open.
With just over 1:30 left in the half, the Bulldogs were finally able to get into the endzone, scoring with 22-second left on the clock, making it 14-7.
Unfortunately for Broncos fans, the control of the game went away in the second half.
Bedford scored at 4:41 in the third for a 14-14 tie.
Alvirne was unable to score in the remainder of the game and Bedford went ahead 21-14 with 4:14 left in the game.
Bedford was able to capitalize on an unsuccessful Alvirne fourth-and-ten on their-own 33-yard line.
The Bulldogs took over on downs and made it a one-score game with a 25-yard field goal with just over two-minutes on the clock.
With the 24-14 win, the Bulldogs are scheduled to play Pinkerton Academy (#4) on Friday night, at home in the seni-finals.
