The storylines were set up beautifully - Stroudsburg needed to beat Pleasant Valley to finish its season undefeated and take the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference North Division crown. Meanwhile, Pleasant Valley rode a six-game winning streak into the game, and if it won, would secure a District 11 Class AAAA playoff spot.

The Bears held a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter and seemed to have the 'spoiler' claim locked up. However, the Mounties utilized some big plays and untimely Pleasant Valley turnovers and penalties to come from behind for the 35-31 win."Our kids just don't give up," Stroudsburg head coach James Miller said after the game. "The kids just kept fighting and fighting and fighting. Pleasant Valley, for most of the game, just outplayed us and all year long, we just don't give up."In fact, with less than five minutes to play, the Mounties faced a 4th-and-10 and after an incomplete pass, the drive seemed to be stalled. However, an unsportsmanlike penalty on the Bears revitalized the Mountie hopes, and four plays later, senior tailback Gerald Douglas pounded his way in from the three for a score to cut the Bear lead to 31-28 with 1:47 on the clock.The onsides kick proved perfect, as it took a high bounce, and when Jeremy Caraballo recovered the loose ball, the Mounties went right back to work on the PV 42. The winners then came to life, as they put together seven plays, never faced a third down and drove in for the go-ahead score. Junior quarterback John Jakobsen connected with TJ Backer for the TD, sending the Mountie faithful into a frenzy."We work on onsides kicks a couple times a week," Miller said. "When I saw Caraballo come in there, I thought, 'We got it.' I mean, the kids just went after that ball and it's just typical of our kids to never quit and keep fighting."With forty ticks left, the Bears' hopes were quickly dashed, as on their first play from scrimmage, a fumble found the hands of Stroudsburg's Cole Secor to end the game."Give Stroudsburg credit," Pleasant Valley head coach David Pacchioni said. "They did a wonderful job in the end of executing, and that's the bottom line. I said to our kids all week that we needed to execute and be disciplined and toward the end of the game, we didn't do either. We had a huge penalty and gave up a pass for a first down and in the end, they just outplayed us."The game proved to be both a bitter pill to swallow for the Bears, and also an exciting finish to a tenth straight win for the Mounties. Despite the finish, the locals did the job early on.In the first frame, the Bears took a 14-7 lead, as Eric Marbury scored both on runs of 17 and two yards, respectively. After Marbury's first TD, the Mounties responded, as they took the very next snap and Douglas found a way to break loose and sprint to the end zone.Pleasant Valley added to its lead in the early-going of the second, when it went 77 yards in six plays and capped it off with a Marbury one-yard score to lead 21-7.However, Stroudsburg rattled off two unanswered scores to deadlock it at 21-21going into the break. Douglas' five-yard scamper and a scoring reception from Jakobsen to Backer ended the second.In the third, the only points came off of Dean Krcic's toe, as he booted a 29-yard field goal, to give his team a 24-21 lead after three. After a Stroudsburg fumble was recovered by PV's Brian Joseph, the Bears converted by going 63 yards in 10 plays and scored off a Marbury three-yard trounce.That's where undefeated Stroudsburg displayed its resiliency, responding to the deficit to finish the regular season undefeated for the first time since 1985.Meanwhile, the Bears await the result of the Freedom-Liberty game this afternoon. If Liberty loses, then the Bears will qualify for Districts, but if Liberty wins, then the Bears resort to an Eastern Conference berth.