ALLENTOWN ­- Pleasant Valley has only played two games this season. The Bears have been impressive in both.

They rolled to a 42-2 win over Allen Friday night on Andre Reed Field at Birney Crum Stadium, their second straight mercy rule win in as many weeks.

“We came out and took care of business,” said Bears head coach Blaec Saeger. “Allen had some miscues and we took advantage of them.”

Allen fumbled away the game’s opening kickoff. After the Bears turned that into a quick 7-0 lead, the Canaries fumbled the ensuing kick off.

Two plays later Pleasant Valley quarterback Robert Papaleo was scampering in for his second touchdown in the first four minutes of the game. He added a 39-yard run for a score later in the first quarter.

Fullback Fela Olaniyan rumbled for a touchdown just over a minute into the second quarter to put the Bears ahead 28-0 as they scored on each of their first four possessions.

Their next four possessions weren’t as fruitful. Fumbles in three straight drives (two late in the second quarter and one to start the second half), along with an Allen safety late in the first half, could have let the Canaries back in the game. But the Pleasant Valley defense, which hasn’t allowed a score all season, held strong through that stretch thanks in part to a pair of tackles for loss by Michael Barrett.

Allen managed just three first downs in the first half and was unable to get any points out of the three turnovers.

“We rested on our laurels there a little bit and got really sloppy” said Saeger. “It wasn’t us for about half a quarter there. I loved the way we responded. Came out at halftime the right way. The defense played fantastic.”

Allen moved the ball on its first possession of the second half, gaining two of its six first downs on that drive. But the Bears’ James Syracuse picked off a Clarence Watkins pass and took it 68 yards for a touchdown to put his team ahead 35-2 in the third quarter.

Jarod Moore capped the scoring with a 33-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter to put the game into the mercy rule.

After their season opener against Parkland was postponed, Pleasant Valley has posted back-to-back wins, beating East Stroudsburg North last week and now Allen. The schedule will get more difficult with rival East Stroudsburg South coming up next week.

“We have a couple things to clean up,”said Olaniyan, who had two of his team’s nine tackles for loss in the game. “I myself have a couple things to clean up. We’ve all got to improve and we’re doing that. It’s going to keep getting harder so we’ve got to keep getting better.”

ONE, TWO, THREE ... Papaleo’s first-quarter touchdowns came on runs of 2, 3 and 39 yards. The first two (with 9:10 and 8:25 left in the quarter, respectively) came less than a minute apart. The third came with 3:33 left in the first half.

NO, NO DON’T THROW... The Bears defense has allowed just two completed passes this season for a net of zero yards.

THE LAST TIME IT HAPPENED ... Pleasant Valley, which went 0-10 in Saeger’s first season in 2019, is off to it’s first 2-0 start since 2007 when the Bears beat Nazareth and Williamsport to open the season and finished 3-7. Many of this year’s seniors were part of the winless team in 2019. “I’ve been waiting for this since sophomore year, since we didn’t get to play them last year,” said Papaleo, a senior. “I remember being sophomores getting our teeth kicked in now we get to do that to other teams.”