NASHUA — Bedford's Vailas cousins are no strangers to winning football games at Stellos Stadium.

Those winning ways for the former Bishop Guertin athletes (both played there as freshmen) continued Saturday night — as weapons in Bedford High's aerial attack.

Largely doing first-half damage in the intermediate passing game, the cousins combined for 117 yards overall and two touchdown receptions as high school football's No. 5 Bulldogs beat their fourth-ranked foe from Nashua, 27-13, in a Division II showdown.

“James is really great extending plays,” said junior Nick Vailas, giving full credit to quarterback James Caparell, who threw for 168 yards and added 47 rushing yards (13-yard TD). “Me and Mike just find the creases to get open. He can scramble.”

Sophomore Mike Vailas (five catches, 71 yards) snared the first of Caparell's TD passes, a 22-yard over-the-middle toss late in the first quarter. Caparell's second TD pass, a 36-yard strike shortly before halftime, required Nick Vailas (two catches, 46 yards) to make the game's greatest grab.

Caparell lofted a fade pass to the front-right corner of the end zone. The QB's wideout, with a step on Stavros Anagnost, turned to find the football and picked it off the defender's right shoulder as he tumbled to the turf.

Video -- Marc Thaler talks to Bedford's Nick Vailas:


“He threw it up. He let me make a play,” Bedford's receiver said. “I got high over (Anagnost). I tried to snag it from him.”

The catch snapped a 7-all tie. Keelan McCoole's second of three extra points gave Bedford (4-1 overall, 3-1 Div. II) a 14-7 lead at halftime.

“He finds the open guys,” BG head coach Travis Cote said of Caparell. “He's a very good football player.”

The best defense for four-time defending champion Guertin (3-2, 3-1) was sustained offense. But it only worked for one stretch, resulting in Anthony Reale's 5-yard game-tying TD.

The Bulldogs were otherwise in control. After Nick Vailas snapped the tie with his catches, he watched the offense go ground-and-pound with Dylan York (65 yards).

Caparell boosted Bedford's lead to 20-7 with a 13-yard TD. The run — on fourth-and-6 — ended with the QB meeting Michael Devereux head-on at the goal line, and planting the defender on his back.

David Cannone delivered the final blow, a 3-yard score with 8-plus minutes to play. Guertin QB Tom Hurley hit Nick Marino for a 42-yard TD as time expired.

“They played their hearts out on both sides of the ball,” Bedford head coach Kurt Hines said. “It's a huge statement we made.”