NORTHAMPTON - Not too many people gave Pleasant Valley a chance of advancing past Friday night’s District 11 Class 6A quarterfinals.

After all, the seventh-seeded Bears barely made it into the postseason while their opponent - Northampton - finished off the regular season undefeated.

Despite battling throughout and keeping the game close, PV eventually dropped a 21-7 decision to end its season.

“I know 60 people that did give us a chance, but they all had Bears on their front,” said head coach Blaec Saeger after the defeat. “These kids are tough as nails, they’re built to hang around with the big boys. It’s tough to beat the big boys, but we gave them everything we had, everything they could handle.

“Northampton is just so big and so strong, they’re very well-trained and well-disciplined and I give them all the credit in the world. They’re very difficult to maneuver against.”

The Kids’ Everett Luisi and Caden Henritzy both maneuvered through Pleasant Valley’s defense in the first half, as both registered touchdowns on two of their team’s first three possessions.

Luisi’s 8-yard run after a PV fumble set up his score from a yard out in the first quarter, while Henritzy weaved his way for a 33-yard tally that put the host team ahead 14-0 early in the second frame.

The Bears (5-5) countered, however, putting together a 15-play, 65-yard drive that cut the deficit in half.

Fela Olaniyan was the workhorse in the march, carrying eight times including the final one that resulted in a 9-yard touchdown.

“Last week, we had a 19-play drive, so this one wasn’t as good,” joked Saeger. “You know, when you run the triple (option), that’s part of it. You’ve got to hold the clock, and you’ve got to grind out tough yards.”

Not only did that possession narrow the gap and give the Bears momentum, but it kept Northampton’s offense off the field.

“It’s that style of offense, it takes away the number of possessions you’re going to have and you have to be efficient with the ones you do have,” said Kids’ mentor John Toman. “We only had the ball four times in the first half. We scored on two of them, fumbled once and missed a field goal. And in the second half, we just didn’t gel offensively.”

Pleasant Valley came up with a stop to start the second half after Northampton received the second-half kickoff, but it couldn’t generate anything from it.

The Kids again came up short the next time they had the ball when Jarod Moore made a key fourth-down tackle on Luisi.

After that, the Bears put together what looked like would be a game-tying drive.

PV quarterback Robert Papaleo broke free for a 27-yard gain, and later hit Ryan Blass for a 21-yard gain on a fourth-and-seven early in the fourth quarter. On the next play, Papaleo tried to find his favorite receiver one more time. Northampton’s Jaelen Richardson looked to intercept the ball, but Blass took it out of his hands and ended up in the end zone.

After conferring, the officials ruled Richardson had caught the ball and was down before Blass took it away.

“It was very simple,” said Saeger of what he was told. “They (the officials) said their kid caught it, went down and my kid grabbed it out once he was down. Without seeing it on film, I can’t argue it. I will see that one as soon as I get home.”

“That was huge play,” said Toman. “Jalen said he caught the ball and was on the ground when the kid took the ball out of his hands. I don’t know. I couldn’t see it, like most couldn’t see it.”

Pleasant Valley did manage to get the ball back two more times, moving to midfield once, but couldn’t produce another score.

Richardson, who had three interceptions in the game, sealed the Northampton win by returning a PV fumble 11 yards for a touchdown with 39.5 seconds left to play.

“These kids never stop fighting, they’re warriors,” said Saeger. “I’m just very proud and honored to be their coach.”

GRAND FINISH ... PV’s Papaleo finished the game with 69 yards rushing, allowing him to just top the 1,000-yard mark for the season. He finished the year with 1,007.

KIDS ADVANCE ... Northampton, the second-seed, will host Freedom on Friday in the 6A semifinals. The third-seeded Patriots defeated Easton.

SENIOR FAREWELL ... Saeger praised his senior players after the contest. “They’re the ones that went 0-10 as sophomores and then had to fight through COVID, and never, never, never stopped working. They were determined to do something with Pleasant Valley football ... and here we are, two years in a row in the district playoffs.”