Jim McCarrroll had read the script before and knew the situation he was in.

But the veteran Pocono Mountain West football coach didn’t panic. And neither did his players.

Trailing at the half Friday night against Pleasant Valley, the Panthers clawed past the Bears in the third quarter to secure a 17-12 Eastern Pennsylvania Conference victory.

“I told the guys at halftime, you’re going to face adversity, you have to overcome it, and tonight we did,” said McCarroll, whose team also snapped a six-game losing streak. “We’ve been facing adversity all year, and we’ve come close, but we didn’t get there. Tonight, we did. We hurt ourselves with some penalties, too, and some missed plays, so we have to clean that up, and we have one more game next week, and hopefully things go our way.”

The second half started when Pleasant Valley fumbled on the second play from scrimmage, but the Panthers gave it back with a fumble two plays later.

Pocono Mountain West’s defense stood tall despite the Bears taking over at the Panthers’ 24-yard line. PV was flagged for holding on the first play and gained three yards on a run, followed by back-to-back incompletions and an interception on fourth down.

West (2-7) quickly went 72 yards, with the big play of the drive coming on a 47-yard pass play from Jerel Sims to Jordan Hernandez on third-and-six from the Panthers’ 32-yard line. PM West cashed in two plays later, with Sims hitting Anthony Braannam Mendoza for a 19-yard score to give the Panthers a 14-12 lead with 7:54 left in the third quarter.

“We didn’t quit, and I think that’s one thing we’re proud of here at West, in 23 years we always can say, we don’t quit,” said McCarroll. “I don’t care what the score is, we want to keep getting better every play, every quarter, every game. We have a lot of young kids playing this year, and this is a big one for them, and hopefully we continue to get better.”

PM West forced a fumble on the Bears’ next drive and took over at the PV 29-yard line. Kicker Colby Lawrence capped the drive with a 27-yard field goal to push the advantage to 17-12 with 1:43 left in the game.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Panthers went ahead when Christian Stiehler rushed in from two yards out and Lawrence hit the extra point to make it 7-0 with under eight minutes to play in the second frame. Stiehler also had a 21-yard run on a fake punt on fourth-and-four from the PM West 43-yard line to extend the drive.

But Pleasant Valley (0-9) answered with a 13-play drive that started at its own 26-yard line and ended with a three-yard score by Jacob George to make it 7-6 with 2:32 left before the half.

The Bears’ defense came up big on the first play of the Panthers’ next possession, as Chris Ward returned an interception 39 yards to give Pleasant Valley a 12-7 lead with 2:14 left in the quarter.

Defensively, Pleasant Valley came up with a big stop before halftime, forcing an incompletion and stuffing a run for a five-yard loss from the eight-yard line on the last two plays of the period to keep the score 12-7.

“They play hard, I will never question that,” Bears’ coach Blaec Saeger said of his team. “They are tough kids, they are great kids, they are well-parented kids. And I enjoy the hell out of coaching them. We’ve just struggled with some things this season, but we’re going to keep trying.”

West’s defense forced four turnovers — three on the Bears’ first three possessions — and two punts in the second half.

“We had to fix some things at halftime, because in that second quarter, they had a long drive and they did what they wanted to do,” said McCarroll, whose team also forced a fumble in the first half. “I thought Blaec did a nice job calling the plays … and we just had to make some adjustments, and I thought our kids did a nice job in the second half.”

UP NEXT … Pleasant Valley will close out the regular season on the road next week against Stroudsburg, while Pocono Mountain West will host Pocono Mountain East. While the Panthers are out of the district playoff picture in Class 6A, the Bears have secured a spot in the Class 5A bracket.

I’LL TAKE THAT … Anderson Soto recovered a fumble for PV in the second half.

PM West 17, Pleasant Vy. 12

PM West 0 7 10 0 - 17

Pleasant Valley 0 12 0 0 - 12

PMW - Stiehler 2 run (Lawrence kick)

PV - George 2 run (kick failed)

PV - Ward 39 interception return (run failed)

PMW - Brannam Mendoza 19 pass from Sims (Lawrence kick)

PMW - Lawrence 27 field goal