Nashua South's Diego Cabrera tries to stay with Bedford back Brody Helton, who scored on this play during Friday night's Division I game in Bedford. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

BEDFORD – Two out of three worked for the Bedford High School football team on Friday night against Nashua South.

There were three chapters to the huge battle of West Conference unbeatens. The first was a fast start by the Bulldogs, as they led 14-0 just about eight minutes into the contest.

Chapter two was the second quarter into the early third, during which the Panthers got three takeaways in the second quarter but with just six points, down 14-6 at the break, but then tied things up less than a minute into the third quarter.

And then, the Bulldogs took over, plowing ahead with a running game that knocked the Panthers into a 38-14 loss, their first of the season.

And the win basically gives the Bulldogs (7-0 Division I, 8-0 overall) the West Conference title, and likely the top seed overall in the division. Bedford went to its ground game, led by Brody Helton, and that was the difference. He finished with 175 yards and three TDs on 32 carries.

“We had some opportunities, missed some tackles,” South coach Scott Knight said. “But they’re good. All their kids are good. Do I think we could give them a run if we play them again? Yeah, I feel pretty good.”

“The kids were sad, they said ‘We could be playing so much better,'” Bedford coach Zach Matthews said. “So we said let’s make some adjustments. We looked at the film, broke down some of the kind of things (the Panthers) were doing, getting in position to stop us. The kids listen to our adjustments, we started to build confidence back, and got it rolling again.”

Before that, Kyle Emmons ripped off a 58-yard TD run and Cody Jackson’s two-point run tied things at 14 with plenty of third quarter – 11:06 – left.

But then it was all Bedford. A 12-play, 64-yard drive ended with Bedford QB hitting Jack Maye hitting Dustin Westcott on a 7-yard TD catch and run to give Dogs the lead for good, 21-14.

Knight then gambled on South’s next possession, and it backfired. On fourth and 4 from their own 41, the Panthers went for it, and QB Cody Jackson (jut 52 yards rushing) was stopped a yard short. It took Bedford just seven plays to take advantage, six of them runs by Helton, the last one a 13-yarder for a TD. The ‘Dogs went for two after a South off-sides penalty and Bennett Matthews got it for a 29-14 Bedford lead.

“We felt confident in what we had,” Knight said, “and just came up a yard short. Possessions are valuable.”

They added two more scores, turning a Matthews interception into his own 3-yard TD with 7:11 left. A bad snap on punt that rolled all the way into the end zone created a safety.

“We were able to control the tempo of the game,” Matthews said. “For me, they’ve got a good offense, they like to play high tempo and have some explosive players. For us, I felt like when we were in possession of the ball and power running the football, we’re going to keep it and keep them off the field.”

In Chapter One, the ‘Dogs and Helton were barking. They took the opening kickoff and in eight plays traveled 66 yards with Helton getting 48 of that and scoring from 2 yards out 3:36 in.

A halfback option pass of 39 yards set up another Helton TD, this one of 6 yards, and the second Zach Petrie PAT kick made it 14-0 with 4:08 left in the first.

“We took a couple of haymakers early,” Knight said, “and then we battled back.”

Yes, Chapter Two began when the Panthers converted on a halfback option of their own, Emmons to Josh Tripp for 39 yards, following a Tripp diving interception of a Maye pass. But on his leaping grab of Emmons’ pass, Tripp got hit on the way down and South’s season could be greatly impacted as a result as the senior receiver left the game with a lower leg/ankle injury and watched the rest of the game on a training table on the South sideline.

“It didn’t help that Tripp went down early, too, lose a threat there,” Knight said. “We’ll see where that goes.”

The Panthers did finish the drive, Sam Levine scoring on a 27-yard run, but a two-point conversion failed and it stayed 14-6 until Emmons and Jackson tied it.

But in this chapter,the ‘Dogs turned the ball over two more times on a Bruno Goncalves interception return to the Bedford 32, and a Helton midfield fumble. The Panthers first drive died at the Bedford 7, and the second on a Prescott interception at the Bulldog 31.

“You’ve got to score points to win games,” Knight said. “We’re going to have to score more than 14 to beat them.”