The turning point in Friday night’s game between rivals Pocono Mountain East and Pleasant Valley was decided in mere seconds.

Pleasant Valley’s Nicholas Mazzella intercepted Dylan Rinker’s pass with a minute left in the third quarter.

On the next play, the Bears sailed a snap that went over Johnny Mitchell’s head and T.J. Thompson recovered the fumble for a Pocono Mountain East score, giving the Cardinals a 24-21 lead.

Terrell Holder’s 5-yard touchdown run with 3:02 left iced the game as the Old Oaken Bucket will remain in Swiftwater for another year after Pocono’s 31-21 Eastern Pennsylvania Conference victory.

The big play-maker on the night was Pleasant Valley’s Nasai Moon, who rushed for 328 yards. East coach Rob Melosky and his staff had a tough time containing Moon.

“He’s a hell of a runner and the kid played a great game,” Melosky said. “Pleasant Valley, on film, showed they were getting better and better every week. We knew they were going to play their best game tonight. It’s a rivalry game and Moon’s a great athlete. He’s probably the healthiest he’s ever been and kudos to him.”

The winless Bears were no slouches Friday night, leading the Cardinals at halftime 15-14. A pair of Moon rushing touchdowns propelled Pleasant Valley to the brief lead.

“I thought there were two key momentum swings in the second half,” Meloksy said. “Our kicker, Trevor Yacuboski, whose leg was on fire all night. I took a timeout and I looked at him and I said, ‘What do you think?’ He said we got it. Dylan Rinker did a great job commanding the game. A lot of guys stepped up.”

Yacuboski delivered a 37-yard field goal in the third quarter that put the Cards ahead.

But Pleasant Valley would get the lead back when Moon broke away on a 72-yard touchdown run with 1:48 left in that third frame.

Moon got all the blocks he needed for his monster rushing game, which included some big runs. The senior running back dealt with injuries the last few weeks, limiting his playing time on the field.

“He’s finally healthy and he’s a guy we need to get going,” PV head coach Matt Kosciolek said. “That was our game plan coming in. He’s a hell of an athlete. We didn’t have to throw the ball tonight. I take full responsibility for that bad snap. We were trying to rush through some things, they mixed up some things on defense.

“I wanted to slide our half-back across the formation and I should’ve just taken a timeout and I didn’t. This one hurts and that bad snap is all my fault.”

PM East improved to 2-4 on the season, getting their second victory in the last three weeks. Pleasant Valley falls to 0-6 and matches up against East Stroudsburg North team on Friday.

KOSCIOLEK ON THE SEASON … “Today we played an awesome first half and then we come out in the second half and the wheels come off the wagon. It’s not just a bad snap. It’s a bad snap and then they score on it. That’s the story of our season right now. We played a couple good drives.”

CHANGING THINGS UP … Kosciolek turned to Moon for Pleasant Valley’s recent offensive outburst. Junior Jack Stephens didn’t see many snaps at quarterback Friday night, but saw more playing time as a free safety on the defensive side of the ball.

PLEASANT VALLEY OFFENSIVE LINE … “Our offensive line played great, there’s no bones about it,” Kosciolek said. “They moved the football up-and-down the field. We just shot ourselves in the foot. We get down into the red zone at the five and we get a holding call and then we mix up a play call.”