Riding a six-game win streak into its final regular season game against perennial power, Stroudsburg, the Pleasant Valley Bears' confidence was soaring. The Mounties managed to withstand the barrage of weaponry the Bears brought at them, and 'mount' an impressive 27-19 win to bring an end to the Bears' string of consecutive victories.

Led by John Jakobsen, who scored all four of his team's TDs, the winners had an answer for each advance the Bears made. The outcome was far from certain throughout the contest."Our offense played well, I thought, and our defense did well tonight, too," Pleasant Valley head coach Dave Pacchioni said afterward. "We had our opportunities and we left everything on the field. The kids played with heart, they played with guts and they gave 110 percent. I can't compliment Stroudsburg enough and it's a credit to them.They did a great job running and throwing the football and then managing the clock. I guarantee the possession time was heavily in their favor, and that is a big part of the reason they won."In fact, on the winners' first drive, they went 66 yards and took over six minutes off the clock. However, after coming up empty, the Bears made them pay as two plays later, senior Pleasant Valley tailback Austyn Borre found room up the left side and raced in for a 82-yard run to put the locals on the board, 6-0. Senior Mountie Korey Nace blocked the PAT attempt by Dean Krcic.After trading possessions, the Mounties responded with their first score of the night, when Jakobsen pounced in from the one for the go-ahead score."At the beginning, it was a little shaky because (the Bears) stopped what we wanted to do, offensively," Jakobsen admitted.Near the end of the first half, the Bear defense faltered some, as Jakobsen connected with Marcello Riccardi along the left sideline. A pair of would-be tacklers failed to bring him down, before he sprinted the rest of the way for a 28-yard score.The locals produced instantly. Mike Mitchell hauled in the ensuing kickoff and broke a few tacklers of his own on a 91-yard kick return score, which cut the Stroudsburg deficit to 14-13 at the break.The Mounties got another score in the third, as Jakobsen found Travis Hines with a bullet of a pass for the 19-yard reception, only to see the Bears answer with a strong drive resulting in a Trent Thomas score. A failed pass attempt kept the Mounties in front, 21-19 at the end of the third.In the fourth, the Mounties managed the clock well again, but came up empty, giving the locals another shot. However, a Riccardi interception set up what proved to be the 'nail in the coffin,' when Jakobsen tacked on his fourth and final score.END OF THE ROAD... Despite the loss, Pleasant Valley's hopes of making it to a post-season are by no means out of the question. Depending on the outcome of Saturday's games, they still have a shot at making the district playoffs, and an even better shot of making the Eastern Conference Championships.BROME-ANCE... Junior Mountie running back Jamaal Brome came on strong after teammate Kwabena Anim-Appiah went down early with an injury. In fact, the 5-6, 160-pound talent produced 242 yards on the ground on 32 carries for the winners.FEAST FOR THE SENSES... Kudos to the Mounties' marching band for a rousing halftime performance, as well as the pyromancer in charge of the post-game firework display that lasted nearly ten minutes.