We’re just two weeks into the high school football season, and only three area teams are still unbeaten.

Northern Lehigh and Palmerton having 2-0 records isn’t a surprise. The Bulldogs and Bombers are both coming off stellar 2021 campaigns that saw them play for the District 11 Class 2A championship. Both teams were also returning enough talent to make them preseason choices to contend for district titles again.

But the other unbeaten team might be considered a bit of a surprise - at least to people not connected to the program.

Pleasant Valley, which hasn’t had a winning record since 2016, has opened the season with a pair of lopsided victories, outscoring East Stroudsburg North and Allen by a combined total of 104-13.

This week, OVERTIME will focus on the Bears and their offensive scheme that few programs - at any level of football - are currently using.

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Spread offenses have been dominating the football landscape for the better part of the last two decades.

The best NFL and college teams all seem to be using some variety of a multi-receiver, spread the field, throw the ball early and often offense. That has filtered its way down to the high school level as well. Among area schools, Lehighton has attempted 62 passes in the opening two weeks of the season, while Jim Thorpe has thrown the ball 54 times. Even schools like Northwestern, Northern Lehigh and Tamaqua - who had reputations as extremely run-heavy programs less than a decade ago - are all averaging between 10-15 passes a game so far this season.

Then there is Pleasant Valley. The Bears have attempted just one pass - and completed none - in two games. But that’s not surprising considering they are running a triple-option offense.

For those not familiar with the triple-option, it’s basically the anti-spread offense. Instead of multiple receivers and pass-happy play-calling, option teams use multiple running backs and rarely put the ball in the air.

No NFL teams use it, and the only major college football programs that are running the triple option - or a variation of it - are the three service academies. There are a scattered amount of high school programs that run it, but they are few and far between.

So how did the option find its way to Pleasant Valley? It came with Blaec Saeger, who was named the school’s head coach prior to the 2019 season.

“I was an assistant coach at East Stroudsburg North under Chuck Daily in 2005 and we were running a spread offense,” explained Saeger. “We were trying to figure out a way to improve a struggling offense. I was at home watching Air Force play a Thursday night football game and they were running the triple option. I went to talk to coach Daily the next day about my idea of running the offense that Air Force ran and he told me he also watched the game the night before and he was coming to talk to me about switching to that offense as well.”

That was the beginning of Saeger’s infatuation with the offense. ES North switched to the triple option in the late stages of the 2005 season. Saeger and the coaches then dove into the Xs and Os of running the offense.

“We contacted the Air Force coaches and they helped us a lot,” Saeger said. “Then we started going to the Naval Academy coaching clinics in Annapolis and we learned a lot working with their coaches. I’ve just been adding, adapting and adjusting my option schemes and philosophy ever since.”

After spending 14 years as an offensive assistant/coordinator at North and then two years as a defensive assistant coach at Bethlehem Catholic, Saeger got the PV job a few years ago. He took over a program that had won a combined three games in the two previous seasons - and he was bringing in an offense that none of the current players had familiarity with.

“We knew it wasn’t going to happen overnight,” Saeger said about the Bears’ ability to run the triple-option effectively. “Our first year here we went 0-10, but gradually the kids started to get more comfortable and more confident in what we were doing.”

After going 2-3 during a COVID-impacted 2020 season, the Bears went 5-5 a year ago and qualified for the D-11 playoffs.

The improvement in their record can be traced directly to the Bears’ offense. In 2019, PV averaged just 170 yards rushing and 12 points per game. A year ago, they averaged over 200 yards rushing and 21 points a game. This season, they are averaging 326.5 yards rushing and 52 points a game.

Saeger said some of the plays the Bears call are designed runs for the quarterback, fullback or wingbacks. But a lot of what they do comes from a true triple-option call where the quarterback must read the defense and decide whether to give it to the fullback, keep it, or pitch it to the wing.

“Val (Byars-Robinson) has done an incredible job running the offense and reading the defense,” Saeger said about his quarterback. “He’s been nearly flawless through two games, which is incredible based on what he has to do in this offense.”

Fela Olaniyan (211 yards, 6.8 yards per carry) and Jarod Moore (198 yards, 10.4 yards per carry) have been the Bears top two rushers so far this season. Byars-Robinson is next with 81 yards (13.5 per carry).

As for throwing the ball, Saeger said the Bears haven’t needed to yet, but if they do, they are more than capable.

“I’m not someone who does things just to do them,” said Saeger. “If some team down the line forces us to throw the ball because of what they are doing defensively, I’m confident we can do that.

“We averaged about six or seven pass attempts a game last year and we have some good receivers in Leadell Burpo, Aaron Haden and Gavin Bauman. We just haven’t needed to use that part of our offense yet.”

Saeger said his philosophy on play-calling is simple.

“We are going to run the ball until someone makes us do something different,” he said.

So far this season, no one has made the undefeated Bears do that.

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BEAR-LY PASSING ... As has been noted above, Pleasant Valley hasn’t relied on the passing game this season. The Bears have not completed a pass in back-to-back games.

Over the past 25 years, there have been only five other teams to go consecutive games without completing a pass.

In 2020, Marian went four straight contests (Sept. 25-Oct. 16) without completing a pass, while the other teams to go back-to-back without a reception include Jim Thorpe in 2015 (Oct. 30 and Nov. 6), Northern Lehigh in 2013 (Sept. 27 amd Oct. 5), Panther Valley in 2004 (Nov. 5 and Nov. 13) and Northwestern in 1999 (Oct. 29 and Nov. 5).

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PUNT RETURNING PROWESS ... Northwestern’s Cade Christopher took a fourth quarter punt against Northern Lehigh last Thursday and returned it 65 yards for a touchdown.

Christopher also returned a punt to the house last season against Saucon Valley.

The last Times News area player to have multiple punt returns for scores in their career was Pleasant Valley’s Nyiem Nevarez (Oct. 19, 2013 and Sept. 26, 2014). The last Tigers player to accomplish the feat was Christopher’s current head coach, Josh Snyder, who had three during the two-year span between 1996 and 1997.

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CENTURY SQUARED ... Tamaqua’s Connor Dillon had an outstanding game against Lehighton on Friday, leading the Blue Raiders to their first win of the season.

Dillon scored three touchdowns in the contest, but one of the more impressive figures was that the junior ran for over 100 yards and also finished with over 100 yards receiving. Dillon carried nine times for 107 yards, and caught four passes for 134 yards.

Over the past 35 seasons, Dillon is just the 11th area player to achieve a 100-100 game. He’s also the first Tamaqua player since Tyler Hope to do it. Hope accomplished the feat on Oct. 25, 2013 when he ran for 227 yards and had 103 yards receiving.

The other area players to do it include Northern Lehigh’s Mike Repsher and Caleb Johnson, Palmerton’s Mike Stasko and Ryan McGrath, Pleasant Valley’s Austyn Borre and Rob Getz, Jim Thorpe’s Justin St. Hill, Northwestern’s Trevor Cunningham, and Lehighton’s Scott Vrablic.

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HOO-RARICK ... Despite his team falling to Tamaqua, Lehighton’s Ian Rarick had a strong performance last Friday. The Indian senior finished the game with 10 receptions for 156 yards.

In the past 30 years, Rarick is just the third Lehighton player to catch 10-or-more passes in a single game.

The last one to do it was Jacen Nalesnik, who had 11 on Sept. 30, 2011 - 116 games ago - against Pocono Mountain East. Also accomplishing the feat was Shane McEvoy, who had 11 catches twice during the 2007 season.

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PALMERTON RECORD? ... When Palmerton scored its first touchdown last Friday against Catasauqua, the Blue Bombers may have set a team record.

The TD marked 36 consecutive games that Palmerton hasn’t been shut out. The last time the Bombers were blanked was Sept. 28, 2018 against Northwestern.

Prior to Friday (and to the best of our knowledge), the longest stretch of scoring points in games was 35 which covered the 2008 season through Week 4 of the 2011 campaign.