EAST STROUDSBURG — Pleasant Valley had just one returning starter on offense and one returning starter on defense coming into the 2024 season.

Growing pains have been the issue for the Bears, but PV had a chance to still gain some valuable experience in a District 11 Class 5A playoff appearance against top seed East Stroudsburg South on Thursday.

But just as they have throughout the season, the Cavaliers again played like a No. 1 seed on the night.

South got its offense going early, scoring 33 points in the first half on its way to a 47-7 win to advance to the 5A title game.

The Cavaliers were extremely balanced in the first and were able to move the ball in chunks, picking up an impressive 13 first downs.

“That’s something we really wanted to focus on coming into this game. We wanted to be as 50-50 as possible, and we wanted to put as many looks as we could on film,” said East Stroudsburg South head coach Matt Walters.

“The game plan was to come out and get the offense going early. We were able to execute a great onside kick to start the game to get our offense the ball, and then the offense did a good job of going right down the field and scoring.”

The onside kick by the Cavaliers was recovered at the PV 49-yard line. Just two plays later, South running back Charles Capers was able to break off a 42-yard run down the right sideline to make it an early 7-0 Cavs advantage.

The Bears answered with a 29-yard rush by Aiden Lollis on their first play from scrimmage, which took the ball down to the South 21. PV started the drive at the 50 after another onside attempt by the Cavs, this time recovered by the Bears.

But the drive fizzled out, and South again went right down the field on its ensuing possession, going 87 yards in eight plays.

The Cavaliers gained most of their yards on the drive through the air with Ivan Laubach going 4-for-4 for 68 yards, including a 5-yard short touchdown pass to Yael Fernandez. Wide receiver Xzavier Pusateri was big on the drive as well, catching three balls for 63 yards to help South lead 14-0 after the first quarter.

The second quarter again was all South.

After turning the PV offense over on downs twice, the Cavaliers’ offense continued to put together scoring drives. Rushing scores of 13 and 3 yards by the hard-running Capers made it 27-0, and an explosive play from Laubach to Pusateri in the passing game for 37 yards upped the lead to 33-0 with 3:22 remaining in the first half.

The Cavaliers then put the game into the mercy rule early in the third quarter after Capers finished off a quick 5-play, 55-yard drive with an 8-yard rushing touchdown to extend the South lead to 40-0.

The Bears (0-11) managed to get on the scoreboard in the third quarter around the seven-minute mark off a 52-yard rushing scamper up the middle from Jacob George.

“We were able to piece a few things together early in the game. We have such a young group. But I don’t even want to say much about the game. They’re the better team. They played better than we did, and we wish them the best moving forward,” said Pleasant Valley head coach Blaec Sager.

“We lost 43 seniors over the past two years, and this team fought hard and they worked their tails off all year long. These kids kept coming to work, they kept battling and I’m so proud of them for that.”

RECORD-SETTING … Wide receiver Xzavier Pusateri finished the game with seven catches for 129 yards. He also surpassed the Cavaliers’ single-season receiving yards mark, as he now has 1,104 receiving yards on the season.

TOO STRONG … Capers was too strong for the PV defense. He finished with 133 rushing yards on just 11 carries and four rushing touchdowns.

GOING FOR GOLD … South will take on No. 2 seed Whitehall in the District 11 5A championship game next Thursday night at a site to be determined.

ES South 47, Pleasant Valley 7

ES South 14 19 14 0 - 47

Pleasant Valley 0 0 7 0 - 7

ESS - Capers 42 run (Aillet kick)

ESS - Fernandez 5 pass from Laubach (Aillet kick)

ESS - Capers 13 run (Aillet kick)

ESS - Capers 3 run (kick failed)

ESS - Pusateri 37 pass from Laubach (run failed)

ESS - Capers 8 run (Aillet kick)

PV - George 52 run (Berger kick)

ESS - Moskovitz 75 interception return (Aillet kick)