The Bedford Bulldogs Secure a Win Against the Profile Patriots on Granite State Challenge

Bring It On!

Durham, NH (April 25, 2025) - The Bedford Bulldogs kept their winning streak alive and managed to run away with the game in the final round to beat the Profile Patriots, 300-180 in the final quarterfinal game of GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE.

Playing for the Profile Patriots team was 11th grader captain Maddie Perkins, 11th grader Mica Ritter, 12th grader Isaac Reeder and 11th grader Raiden Valentine. The team was coached by social studies teacher Paul Savard. The team alternate was 12th grader Sophie Phelps. Profile high is located in Bethlehem, was the smallest school in GSC this year and enrolls around 141 students from the towns of Bethlehem, Easton, Franconia and Sugar Hill.

Playing for the Bedford Bulldogs was team captain and 9th grader Matthew Ruggiero, 10th graders Tabitha Arp and Alina Chausovsky, and 9th grader Sumedh Godavarthy. Team alternates were 10th grader Samantha Arp and 9th grader Tristan Albano. Their coaches were Kelly Chausovsky, a Destination Imagination coordinator, and parent volunteer Sherry Arp. Bedford High School enrolls 1,492 students and serves the town of Bedford.

ROUND ONE
This round went back and forth between the two teams as they both answered a wide variety of questions.

Profile took a small 20-point lead halfway through after all four of its contestants answered questions correctly while Matthew of Bedford got 40 points for his team.

Bedford’s Alina answered the Unitil Power Question about a quote about power from author Alice Walker and picked up 20 points for her team.  At the end of the round the Bedford Bulldogs has a slight lead of 80-60.

ROUND TWO – THREE STRIKES AND YOU’RE OUT
In the Three Strikes and You're Out Round, each team gets a 10-question category and each team member gets one question starting with the captain. The team continues to answer questions until they miss three questions. Each team also has three passes in each round. If a team answers all 10 questions correctly, they pick up an additional 10 points. 

The second round has been challenging for teams all season on Granite State Challenge, and in this match, that trend continued.

Bedford went first and Matthew answered the first question about dancer Isadora Duncan  correctly, but the team faltered on the next three questions, all with a connection to actor in the Godfather movies and the tm was only able to pick up  10 points in the round.

“I think the pass rounds, generally, we’re pretty good about it. Passing to people who know it, but I think we just need to really lock in and consider whether it’s worth passing or just giving a wrong answer, because I think that was definitely our weakest round this time,” said Bedford’s Alina Chausovsky.

Profile was next and they used two passes and answered wrong twice before a question about the Wright brothers came around to Maddie who was able to answer, but similarly to Bedford, they struggled after answering one right, and the Patriots earned only 10 points in this round.

ROUND THREE – 60-SECOND ROUND
In the 60-Second Round alternates join their teams. Each team picks a ten-question category and has 60 seconds to answer the questions. If they answer all ten correctly, teams get a 10-point bonus. Team members can confer in the round, but the captain answers.

Profile picked the category “Two M” in which all of the answers had two consecutive letter M’s. They picked up 70 points in the round on questions about Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, commas, the Peter Gabriel song, “Sledgehammer” and mummies.

The Bulldogs chose “Isn’t it Ironic” as their category, where each answer included “Iron.” With a variety of answers from pop culture, sports and science such as “Iron Maiden,” “Iron Age,” “Gridiron,” and “Iron Lung,” the Bedford team secured 90 points, missing only on a question about the band Iron Butterfly.   Going into the final round, Bedford was ahead, 180-140.

FINAL ROUND – TOSS UP

In the final round of the game, each correct answer is worth 20 points, but teams lose 20 points with an incorrect answer and a lead can be easily lost or gained in the round.

Bedford managed to answer question about the sum of the interior angles in a hexagon, Andrew Carnegie, Adam Sandler, and paintball, among others. Profile wasn’t able to keep up and the game ended with Bedford on top by a final score of 300-180.

Despite the loss, Profile left the game in an upbeat mood. “It was amazing as a smaller school. We don’t get to experience a lot of these opportunities. So, it was nice to get to take advantage of it, be in the studio, and just have fun with our team,” said Profile’s Maddie Perkins post-game.

Bedford’s Alina Chausovsky was a new fan of positive thinking. “I don’t really believe in manifesting but still before this round, I tried to go in like thinking like, ‘Oh, we're definitely going to win, no matter what,’ and then we did so, maybe I do believe it now.”

Her teammate, Sumedh Godavarthy was primed for the upcoming semifinal game against Merrimack High.  “I’m just really excited to go to the semifinals. Because of course, this is the first time that Bedford’s doing this in a while, it’s great to represent our high school.” The last time Bedford High played on GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE current host Jon Cannon was the coach.

Trinity High takes on Tilton School in game one of the semifinals of GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE airing on Thursday, May 1 at 8:30 p.m. on NHPBS. You can also stream it on the PBS App, the NHPBS YouTube channel, or online at nhpbs.org/gsc.

Test your knowledge with GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE online quizzes, and more at the GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE web page, or try your hands at daily brain teasers on the GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE Facebook page.

GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE is funded by lead sponsor Unitil with additional funding from Bangor Savings Bank, Safety Insurance, NEA New Hampshire and Aroma Joe’s.

Test your knowledge with GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE online quizzes, and more at the GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE web page, or try your hands at daily brain teasers on the GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE Facebook page.

GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE is funded by lead sponsor Unitil with additional funding from Bangor Savings Bank, Safety Insurance, NEA New Hampshire and Aroma Joe’s.

About Host Jon Cannon: GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE is hosted by Bow High School teacher Jon Cannon.  Cannon has a long history with GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE. You might say he grew up with the game.  He was a member of the Belmont High team when he was in high school, was a member of the NHPBS GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE crew when he was in college at UNH and was the coach of the Bedford High GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE team.

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TV Schedule

• profile high v. bedford high
  Granite State Challenge
  Monday, 4/28 at 4:30 P.M. on NHPBS
  
  

• tilton school v. trinity high
  Granite State Challenge
  Thursday, 5/1 at 8:30 P.M. on NHPBS
  
  

• plymouth regional high v. prospect mountain high
  Granite State Challenge
  Thursday, 5/22 at 8:30 P.M. on NHPBS
  
  

• souhegan high v. trinity high
  Granite State Challenge
  Thursday, 5/29 at 8:30 P.M. on NHPBS
  
  

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