Bishop Guertin running back A.J. Holmes is wrapped up by Noah Cassamassino and Brody Helton (26) during Saturday night's Division I game at Stellos Stadium. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – They had an early 6-0 lead, lots of momentum, and rain-soaked Stellos Stadium was loud despite a small crowd Saturday night.

And then it just simply washed away for the Bishop Guertin High School football team.

What happened? What’s happened to every other Division I team over the last two-plus seasons:

Bedford happened.

“They’re a seasoned team that’s able to play the full 48,” Bishop Guertin coach Anthony Nalen said of the Bulldogs after Bedford’s 35-13 win. “Our young guys, who have not been in these games consistently yet, learned a lot tonight in terms of how to finish a game, how not to act (with) body language, doing their jobs even when they’re tired.

“There’s a lot of things to improve on but I thought overall I was happy with the kids’ effort, they played tough, they gave me everything they had.”

Including an incredible 15-play, 99 yard drive – yes, 99 yards – that resulted in a Jonah Feliciano 1-yard TD plunge that put the Cards up 6-0 with 1:25 left in the first quarter.

But fast forward to three minutes into the fourth quarter and it was 35-6 Bedford. Ouch.

Bulldog back Brody Helton rushed for 122 yards in the first half with two touchdowns. The first was a 23-yard run on the first play of the second quarter for a 7-6 Bedford lead, but the second was an 80 yard run with 7:37 left in the half that helped make it 14-6, the lead that Bedford took into the locker room.

But Helton got rolled up on at the end of that TD run and hurt his ankle, out for the game, although Bulldog coach Zach Matthews said he could have played if absolutely necessary. But a bevy of backs ran for 99 yards in the second half during which Bedford scored three TDs to put the game away.

“In the second half, I challenged the kids,” Matthews said. “There’s a lot of people in the state who say the only reason we’re good is we have Brody Helton. I think you saw a lot of different kids contribute in the second half when he was out.”

Plus they had senior quarterback Jack Maye, who was 13 of 15 for 216 yards and two TDs. He hit Peter Suozzo on a 44-yard score nearly three minutes into the second half, and found Landon Ellsmore open down the seam for a 37-yard TD with just under nine minutes to play. In between, Eric Millis capped a 14-play drive with a 4-yard TD run with 10:40 left. BG had tackling issues in the second half especially.

“Yeah, they’re a real physical team, they’ve got some athletes in space, and if you don’t get hats to the ball, it’s very hard to tackle (Helton) or (Bennett Matthews) in space by yourself. Couple drives we were able to gang tackle and rally with support, other times they didn’t and it showed.”

Guertin left points on the field in the first half. A missed extra point on the first TD, a bad snap on a field goal attempt, and an interception in the end zone by Bulldog Peter Suozzo. It was after that that Helton ripped off his 80-yard run, but the drive before and the drive after BG ran off a combined 25 plays with nothing to show for it.

The Cards also thought they had recovered a Helton fumble in the first half, but the officials’ late reversal seemed to take the wind out of their sails.

“It was tough, we had four refs say it was a fumble and (the side judge) came in late, and we had the offense ready to go,” Nalen said. “But it is what it is.”

BG sophomore QB Nate Bowen threw for 157 yards and ran for 49 more, and the Cards couldn’t jump on the Bulldogs when the time was right.

“I never felt the game was ever away from us,” Matthews said, referring mainly to BG’s quick start. “Credit to them, they did some good stuff, keeping us off balance, a lot of exotic formations … That’s what people are going to do against us. We’re figuring it out.”

And so are the Cards.

“The guys were energetic,” Nalen said. “They didn’t play scared, they didn’t play nervous, they kind of went out there and gave it their best shot. We’re excited for what we can do in terms of building off of this.”