The winning ways of Pleasant Valley football returned Friday night in the Old Oaken Bucket game against rival Pocono Mountain East.

Pleasant Valley rushed for 273 yards and nearly had almost twice as many total yards as PM East in a 21-0 win at home.

“I thought they had something to prove tonight,” Pleasant Valley head coach Blaec Saeger said. “We gave it all we had after a half. We made a little bit of an adjustment, not schematically, just emotionally. I think Pocono (Mountain) East was the more physical team in the first half. We couldn’t figure it out.”

Pleasant Valley got on the board first using the rushing game with senior quarterback Valentino-Byers Robinson and running back Alex Ecker ripping of big runs on the team’s first drive, setting up a three-yard touchdown run from Byers-Robinson to put the Bears up 7-0.

Pocono Mountain East answered right back when quarterback Rocco DelGiudice broke away for a 53-yard run to the Pleasant Valley 5-yard line. East’s troubles started there when Pleasant Valley’s Joseph Brustein intercepted a DelGiudice pass with 5:13 left in the first quarter.

The Pleasant Valley defense posted its first shutout win of the year against the Cardinals and Pocono Mountain East struggled all night between the two triple-option offenses.

“Collectively as a team, we’ve been working all week, trying to stop their triple option,” Pleasant Valley senior Dakoda Lucas said. “They’re running it well and we knew what we had to do. We had to come together as a team.”

Special teams for the Bears played a role in the game when they blocked an East field goal attempt and Lucas had two good punt returns to give PV good field position.

“I can’t just say I ran the ball well on punt returns, all my blocks were right where they needed to be and it opened up the hole” Lucas said. “I just found the hole and hit it.”

Lucas is playing his first year of football and was competing for a spot before the season began. The Bears improve to 5-4 with one regular season game remaining against Stroudsburg at home.

“It’s amazing,” Lucas said. “Obviously, there’s been some success and downfalls. As a team, we’ve fought through so much adversity and we’ve stayed together which is rare for a team. I’m so happy that I have all the people around me.”

This is the fourth straight year Pleasant Valley has won the Old Oaken Bucket game and the Bears get their first win in the last four weeks with Stroudsburg looming. Byers-Robinson had one rushing touchdown on the night, while Ecker punched the ball in twice after returning to the field this week.

“This is everything for this community and school and our kids knew it,” Saeger said. “They knew who they we’re playing for. Generation-to-generation, the guys who have played this game and the student body like this wanted to come out and celebrate with us. They knew what was at stake. They had a great week and got the job done.”

PLEASANT VALLEY’S EFFORT ... Saeger talked about how his defense stopped East and the hard work his kids put in leading up to Friday night’s game. “They did a lot of good things,” Saeger said. “East made life hard on us. The kids were very determined and stuck with it and never gave up. Things weren’t going as well as we hoped, so proud of their effort and the run game is what we hang our hang on.”

FIRST YEAR FOR LUCAS ... Dakoda Lucas tried out for the football team in his last year and made the starting lineup and was satisfied with how far come PV has come. “This is my first year of football,” Lucas said. “I’m so stoked and happy that I played. Coach Saeger and everyone around me are such great people and amazing to be around. All of our seniors are just amazing people. They’re going to be so successful and I think we’ll stay friends and be connected.”