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Richardson comes up with big plays for PV

Pick your poison.

Pleasant Valley's offense offers little respite to opposing coaches.The Bears have the playmakers to score from anywhere on the field, a fact evidenced by their staggering 49.9 point-per-game average through the first eight weeks of the season.That trend continued last Friday as Pleasant Valley romped to a 66-26 win over East Stroudsburg North.Another week, another standout performance by one of Pleasant Valley's skill players, as wide receiver Justin Richardson racked up 166 yards receiving and four touchdowns on six catches, in addition to finding the end zone from one-yard out on the ground.Richardson's big day propelled the Bears' to their sixth straight win and helped the senior earn Times News Player of the Week honors for Week 8, becoming the third Pleasant Valley player to win the award this season."It's a great feeling," Richardson said. "It means our offense, our players, our coaches are doing a great job getting us the ball and doing everything right."Quarterback Brandon Keyes was the first Bear to claim POW honors, doing so after a Week 4 victory over William Allen. Running back Mike Mitchell joined the POW party two weeks later after a record-setting performance against East Stroudsburg South.While the individual accolades have been nice, all that matters to Richardson is winning."We just do whatever it takes to continue that little streak we have," he said.What they've done is score.Since falling to Allentown Central Catholic 38-27 in Week 2, Pleasant Valley has averaged 54.8 points per game in reeling off six straight wins.Against the Timberwolves, the Bears led 45-14 at halftime and finished with 571 yards of offense, as Keyes threw for 276 yards and five scores and Mitchell racked up 178 yards on the ground on just 12 carries.Richardson's receiving scores came from 59-, 38-, 16- and 14-yards, touchdowns he credited to his quarterback - and his protection."Our line was protecting Keyes and he was able to make those reads to be able to get me the ball," Richardson said.But it's Richardson's plays without the ball that stand out the most to Pleasant Valley (7-1) head coach Mark Versuk."The middle screen that we threw to Mikey Brown, Justin was able to make three blocks and knock two guys down on the ground to lead Mikey into the end zone," Versuk said of Brown's 44-yard score. "He (Richardson) gets all those numbers and catches and everything else, but they don't see that play. And that's a play as a college coach that you want to see - him hustling downfield and leading his teammate to the end zone. He's a real team guy."A hip injury derailed Richardson's track season last spring. The setback motivated the senior to comeback even stronger in the fall."I knew when we had our first 7-on-7 drills (in the summer) that I was ready, because it didn't hurt anymore and I was just ready to give it my all and was eager to comeback," Richardson said. "My dad really motivated me, and just told me it's my senior year, go out with a bang. Even though I had a couple of setbacks, I just tried to use that as motivation."As the Bears continue to add to their trophy case, Versuk hopes such honors serve offer incentive for future generations at Pleasant Valley to help continue building a winning tradition."It's great for the team," Versuk said of the awards. "When an individual gets it, it's great for them and it's great for Justin. But overall, it's great for our team. Our line takes pride in it offensively, because that's where it starts."And just in general. Our players from the youth program up, they look up to those guys … and when they see them doing good things, it's good for our entire program."