Bedford's Brody Helton, shown trying to avoid a tackle by Nashua South's Diego Cabrera a month ago, had two touchdowns Friday night but it wasn't enough as Helton and the Bulldogs fell to Pinkerton in the Division I semis, 27-13, in Bedford. (Telegraph file photo by TOM KING)

Bedford High School’s two-year stranglehold on Division I football has come to an end.

Matt Morrison scored three touchdowns, one on an interception, as the No. 4 Pinkerton Academy Astros jumped out to a 21-0 first quarter lead en route to a 27-13 semifinal win Friday night at Bulldog Stadium.

The Astros will either play at No. 3 arch-rival Londonderry or at No. 2 Exeter, depending on who wins today’s semifinal between the two, in next Saturday’s state title game. It’s Pinkerton’s first championship game since 2018, and they avenged a 28-25 regular season loss to the Bulldogs.

Pinkerton (9-2) started the scoring nearly four minutes in when back Jamie Isaac fumbled a pitch but scooped it up and scampered 53 yards for the TD to help make it 7-0.

Morrison helped make it 14-0 with 1:07 left in the quarter on a fourth-and-1 play. He then had a 30-yard pick six of a Jack Maye pass to help make it 21-0 with 5.8 seconds left in the opening period.

It stayed that way into the half, and you knew the Bulldogs (9-1, 10-1 overall) would respond and they did, as Brody Helton scored twice on a 6-yard run with 5:04 left in the third and a 55-yard run on the final play of the third quarter to make it 21-13. The PAT kick on the second TD was blocked.

However, Morrison had one more touchdown left in him and he scored on a 50-yard run with 6:48 remaining in the game. There was a bad snap on the PAT attempt but the Astros were still up 27-13 and that’s how it stayed.

(Material from NH-HighSchoolSports.com assisted in this report.)