STROUDSBURG — The Pleasant Valley Bears had a 21-0 lead at halftime, stunning the Stroudsburg Mountaineers at that point of the game.

However, Stroudsburg answered with 35 straight points to improve to 6-4 and win 35-21 over Pleasant Valley in the second half of the ballgame.

“We played a very sound, clean football game,” Pleasant Valley head coach Blaec Saeger said. “They did not and we capitalized on their mistakes. They turned the ball over and we punched it in. Offense did what I expected them to do, and we controlled the clock and held them to three possessions. When we went into halftime 21-0 and, unfortunately, two minutes before that, our quarterback sprained his ankle.”

Pleasant Valley quarterback Jaxson Haines came out of the game limping and was replaced by the backup, who also got hurt in the game. Haines returned to replace the injured backup and preserved throughout the rest of the game.

“Jaxson was very limited with what he could do,” Saeger said. “He’s a tough kid. The offense could only do certain things in the second half.”

Stroudsburg, down 21-0 at halftime, answered back by getting the ball first in the second half. The Mountaineers put up 21 points in the third quarter and followed it up with two rushing touchdowns by Keyen Johnson in the fourth quarter to pull away from the Bears.

“It just shows our team is very resilient,” Stroudsburg head coach Jim Miller said. “We went over a lot of stuff at halftime, really talking about them doing their job, reading their keys and trying not to do everything. Break it down to fundamental football. That’s the biggest thing we talked about at halftime.”

Pleasant Valley’s Chris Ward had a big night offensively and defensively, scoring a touchdown on both sides of the ball. His run toward the end of the first half put the Bears up 21-0, and he also ran it in for the two-point conversion to give Pleasant Valley the three-touchdown lead before halftime.

“He’s a great player,” Saeger said about Ward. “He’s one of the rocks that’s going to lead this program to where it’s been the last couple of years.”

BOUNCING BACK … Stroudsburg came off a 20-0 loss to rival East Stroudsburg South the week before and the Mountaineers finished the regular season 6-4. Pleasant Valley capitalized on Stroudsburg’s early mistakes until the Mountaineers staged a 35-point comeback in the second half.

REGULAR SEASON ENDS … Pleasant Valley finished the regular season winless and will playoffs ES South in districts.

Stroudsburg 35, Pleasant Vy. 21

Pleasant Valley 7 14 0 0 - 21

Stroudsburg 0 0 21 14 - 35

PV - George 3 run (Berger kick)

PV - Ward interception return (kick failed)

PV - Ward 4 run (Ward run)

S - Mitchell 10 pass Dudsak (Fuller kick)

S - Johnson 5 run (Fuller kick)

S - Dudsak 6 run (Fuller kick)

S - Johnson 1 run (Fuller kick)

S - Johnson 6 run (Fuller kick)