Ending the 2012 regular season as the outright Mountain Valley Conference champions has become a two step process for the Pleasant Valley Bears.

Step one will begin around 7 p.m. this Friday night in Dingmans Ferry.Pleasant Valley, one of two unbeatens still standing the MVC, will travel to East Stroudsburg North this weekend to partake in the TIMES NEWS Game of the Week.There will be a lot riding on the game for both teams. The Timberwolves (6-2, 5-1) dropped their first conference game to Stroudsburg (7-1, 6-0) last week, 21-12. The defeat not only knocked the T'Wolves off the list of MVC unbeatens, but made it so that they no longer control their own destiny in their quest for part of the conference title.Meanwhile, Pleasant Valley (6-2, 6-0) still holds its MVC fate in its own hands. If the Bears can win both of their remaining games (ES North and Stroudsburg) then they will stand alone atop the conference standings for the first time ever."This is a big game for us," said Pleasant Valley head coach Jim Terwilliger. "North has been playing great football and they have great athletes. Their two losses have come to two very good football teams."We have to prepare for a heck of a game Friday night. It will be a big game. That's what you look for when you get down to the end of the year."East Stroudsburg North is notorious for its 'veer' or 'triple option' offense. The T'Wolves use a plethora of tailbacks and either hand the ball off to their fullback on a dive, or have the quarterback keep it and roll out on an option with his tailback. North will even set up some trick plays and pitch the ball to a reversing wide receiver.As one could imagine, this type of offense makes it very hard on a defense and tests the unit's gap discipline. Although Pleasant Valley has won each of the last three meetings under Terwilliger, the Bears haven't had an easy time stopping North's offense.Despite everyone in the stadium knowing that the Timberwolves were going to run the ball (just 22 pass attempts in the last three years, including ten in the last two), they still managed to rack up nearly 700 rushing yards. Last year North piled up 299 yards on 41 carries. However, they lost 36-13."They are a great offense," said Terwilliger. "They have put up a lot of yardage against us, as well as other teams, but the bottom line is that we have to score one more point than they do. They are going to chew up the clock and go up and down the field and get a lot of yardage. We just have to be disciplined and do our job and do it multiple times over."So far the North offense has been scoring in bunches, as it currently ranks seventh in all of District 11 at 34 points-per-game. Starting fullback David Allbaugh is North's biggest threat on the ground. The 5-8, 190-pound senior racked up 969 yards in seven games before sitting out last week with an injury. His status for this week is unknown. Caseem Johnson (14-133 rush) carried the load in his absence, while Lorenzo Melchiorre (7-31-TD rush) and Abdul Murphy (3-15 rush, 2-38 rec) helped out. All play a role in the scheme regardless.Another North starter whose status is in question is quarterback Will Quiles. Quiles ran four times for 49 yards and a touchdown before leaving with a shoulder injury. Melchiorre took his place under center and actually completed two passes for 38 yards."There is no change in preparation," Terwilliger said. "We are going to prepare to see everybody. Allbaugh is a special athlete though and we have to gear up to stop him. Everybody else is part of the offense and they really click well together."I am going to be playing a little option quarterback this week in practice so hopefully I am in shape so I can give the defense a good look."Thankfully for Pleasant Valley, it has a high-scoring offense of its own. The Bears sit just ahead of the T'Wolves at 35.3 points-per-game. Only two teams have held the locals to less than 27 points in a game (Pocono Mountain East - 14, East Stroudsburg South - 21), although the Bears didn't do themselves any favors (six turnovers, three touchdowns negated by penalties).The one thing this year's Pleasant Valley team has that it hasn't had it the past: a solid defense. The Bears are allowing 16 points-per-game - good for eighth in the district. Nazareth (50) and Wyomissing (31), two of the better offenses in all of Eastern Pennsylvania, are the only two teams to score more than 14 points on the unit."I would certainly say this is the most complete and balanced team I have coached since I have been here," said Terwilliger. "We have been known offensively for a couple of years now, but this year our defense is what we have hung our hat on. That is what I am most proud of right now."