Bedford back Brody Helton plows into Nashua South defender Justin Fish during Friday night's Division I battle at Stellos Stadium. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – The feeling for the Nashua High School South football team Friday night at halftime vs. Bedford was a little different than last year’s one-sided loss to the Bulldogs.

But not so much in the second half. Bedford was up 21-14 at the break and pitched a second half shutout en route to a 34-14 win at Stellos Stadium.

“Our energy was a little lacking in the second half, which was a little shocking to me,” South coach Josh Porter said. “It’s high school kids, sometimes you’ve got to go through stuff, right. … I was hoping to clean up some of the mistakes in the second half, and unfortunately we made more.”

“Early on we didn’t play the way we were capable of,” Bedford coach Zach Matthews said. “That (in the second half) is more how I expected us to play. … We really challenged the kids. We had to buckle down, make some adjustments and lock some things down. … Defensively it took a while for us to figure out what we need to do what was going to work against these guys.”

Offensively, the Bulldogs came in with the fanfare of their duo of quarterback Bennett Matthews (76 yards and two TDs rushing 174 and a TD throwing) and running back Brody Helton (110 yards rushing) but the player that did the most damage to the opposition was Brycen D’Urso, who had three touchdowns, one of which put Bedford up for good just before the half.

The game was tied at 14 and the Bulldogs played a field position game perfectly late in the first half, pinning the Panthers deep with a punt, forcing them to punt and taking over at the South 39 with 1:33 to play. With 48.6 seconds left, Matthews hit D’Urso for a 30-yard TD as he shook a defender and found the end zone. The PAT gave Bedford a 21-14 lead it would not relinquish.

“You always need other playmakers, right,” Matthews said. “With Ben and Brody being in the backfield, they’re trying to load the box and take away the run. That’s why you’re seeing Durso get some of those quick screens and quick caches. We’re going to continue to need that from him.”

Porter thought South (0-1 Division I, 1-1 overall) was in good shape to get the ball to start the second half, but its drive stalled at midfield and the Bulldogs responded with a 12-play, 88-yard march that ended with D’Urso running in from nine yards out. Elijah Todd’s PAT made it 28-14 with 1:37 left in the quarter. Matthews later added an 8-yard TD run with 2:59 left after Helton had fumbled away an earlier chance in the red zone. It was 2-0 Bedford’s half all the way.

Nashua South’s Cody Jackson races down the sidelines vs. Bedford on Friday night at Stellos Stadium. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

Early on, the teams kept trading scores, a Matthews 6-yard TD pass to D’Urso on the game’s opening drive, and the QB’s first scoring run of the night of 12 yards, thanks to a muffed punt on the part of the Panthers. South, meanwhile, got a Cody Jackson (18 of 27 for 170 yards) 5-yard TD pass to Colvin Levesque in the first quarter and the Panthers answered Matthews’ score with a 12-play, 70-yard march with Sam Levine burrowing in from 2 yards out with 7:18 left in the half.

No one would’ve thought that that would’ve been South’s last score.

“That’s a great team, Brody played well, and they had their ancillary guys step up tonight for them too,” Porter said. “You’re focusing in on taking away 21 (Helton) and 13 (Matthews), they’re gonna find their next guy,” Porter said. “Credit to them. … I told the guys it’s a learning opportunity for us. Rather it happen now. … We’ve got to be better.”