Pleasant Valley has a lot of weapons in its offensive arsenal and can rack up points in a hurry out of its spread attack.

Even when their offense is slowed down at times, the Bears have other means to get the job done.After watching Tamaqua draw first blood, the Bears turned to their defense and special teams to regain the momentum.Once it got in its groove, Pleasant Valley scored on six straight possessions to pull away for a 42-13 non-league victory Friday night on Stadium Hill.The Bears have now reeled off four straight wins after an opening loss to Nazareth, and they continued their hot streak at the expense of Tamaqua (1-4) to capture the first gridiron meeting between the schools since 1995.Quarterback Derrik Walling had another strong outing directing the Bears' potent aerial game. The southpaw signcaller connected on 12 of 21 passes for 209 yards and four touchdowns, spreading the wealth to wide receiver Rich Irving, who hauled in two of the scoring strikes, as well as to Dean Bumbulsky and tight end David Dalmas.In the scoreless opening quarter, however, the Raiders forced the Bears to punt three times. The Tams then grabbed the lead on a quick three-play, 59 yard drive that included a 27 yard run by fullback Garth Lakitsky and a 28 yard option keeper by quarterback Ryan Palsgrove for the TD.Lance Williams' conversion kick was blocked, but Tamaqua had a 6-0 lead just nine seconds into the second stanza.The Raiders' advantage was short-lived, however, as Rob Getz returned the ensuing kickoff 50 yards to the Tamaqua 32, setting up a 28 yard TD pass from Walling to Irving on fourth down and six.Malik Krcic booted the first of his six extra-points, and the Bears were on top 7-6 with 10:11 remaining in the first half."This game scared me more than almost any other on our schedule, because I know the kinds of teams Tamaqua puts together, and this place is a tough place to play," said Pleasant Valley coach Jim Terwilliger. "We had our backs against the wall, and we got out of the gate slower than we wanted to do."The nice thing is, our kids regained their step in the second and third quarters, so that shows we are making progress."Terwilliger refers to his kicking game as the Bears' "special forces", and they forced another special play.With Tamaqua punting from its own 29, Troy Verway broke through and blocked Dustin Vandermartin's punt attempt, which was recovered by the Bears' Chuck Parisi on the Raider 10. Two plays later, fullback Dikembe Smith burst up the middle into the end zone from five yards out, with Krcic's kick widening the Bears' edge to 14-6."In the first quarter, we did a good job defensively on their pass routes, and we were able to run the football, but we had some special teams breakdowns, and you can't give up those big plays, because they kind of snowball on you," said Tamaqua coach Sam Bonner.The Raiders responded with a special teams play of their own, with Jarred Muffley's 52 yard kickoff return going down to the Bears 36.On fourth and five at the PV 17, however, Irving came up with an interception, returning the pick-off to the Bears 44 to halt the threat.A 37 yard screen pass to Getz put the Bears in business at the Tamaqua 22, and Walling found Bumbulsky in the middle of the end zone for the TD and a turnaround that upped their lead to 21-6."Everyone likes to talk about Irving on offense, but he has a great all-around game," praised Terwilliger. "He's been our best defensive player the past two years as a free safety and he calls our signals. He just knows how to make plays."The quick strike Bears added another 10 yard TD pass to Irving with just 7.4 seconds left in the half to make it 28-6, then scored twice more in the second half on a Dalmas 16 yard TD reception and a six-yard run by Getz.The Raiders, who got a final score on a one-yard plunge from Lakitsky (7-55 rushing) with 8:10 left, were led by Grif Griffiths' 73 yards rushing.