EAST STROUDSBURG — A year ago, Pleasant Valley was still searching for answers.

Now, the Bears are finding them.

Behind a relentless defense and a balanced offense, Pleasant Valley rolled to a 35-6 victory over rival East Stroudsburg South on Friday night. The win was the Bears’ second dominant performance of the season, joining a 34-7 triumph over Dieruff in Week 2.

For a program that went winless last fall, the strides forward have been striking.

At the midway point of the regular season, Pleasant Valley sits at 2-3. The three setbacks have all come against quality opponents — Governor Mifflin, Exeter Township and Parkland. Governor Mifflin is 2-3, while both Exeter and Parkland are unbeaten at 5-0 and ranked among the state’s best. Against South, Pleasant Valley showed the kind of toughness that has grown out of that challenging schedule.

“These kids have really bought in,” head coach Blaec Saeger said. “They’ve embraced the culture, the grind, and the process of getting better. Regardless of what offense we were in tonight, we won up front, we won the physical battle, and that gave us what we needed. That’s Pleasant Valley football.”

The Bears dictated Friday’s game from the start. Their defense suffocated the Cavaliers (1-4), holding them to just nine yards of offense in the first half. South punted four times and produced three plays that went for negative yardage before finally finding the end zone with under a minute to play in the fourth quarter.

Pleasant Valley’s offense, meanwhile, found its spark in the second quarter. After an interception and a punt on its first two possessions, quarterback Jaxson Haines connected with Chris Ward on a 47-yard screen pass for a touchdown. Ward later added a 16-yard scoring run before halftime. Haines scored on a 14-yard run in the third quarter, and Ward returned a fumble 38 yards for another touchdown. Niko Payan’s 56-yard run in the fourth pushed the lead to 35-0 and invoked the mercy rule.

Ward finished with 86 total yards and two scores, while Payan ran for 65 yards. In all, seven different Bears carried the ball, and Haines added more than 100 yards passing.

For Ward, the night showed how much the Bears have grown.

“Every practice we’re battling, everyone’s going at it, hitting each other, just doing what we can to make sure when the game comes, we’re ready to hit anyone,” Ward said. “I think I’ve grown a lot. Last year I was a sophomore, and the seniors were helping me. Now we’ve got fullbacks that can run, receivers that can catch, and Jaxson leading the offense. We’ve improved so much from last year.”

Saeger agreed, calling Ward one of the league’s most underrated players.

“Whoever doesn’t know him is going to know him real soon, man, as soon as they get a piece of him, because he is a special, special player and a special kid,” Saeger said. “Some of the blocks he made tonight were as good as the runs. He just goes out and does his business and it’s always in the right spot.”

The Bears’ offensive line of center Ricky Merklin, guards McGregor Edward and John DePaul, and tackles Bradley Serfass and Collin O’Neil helped pave the way.

Defensive coordinator Brian Miller also drew praise.

“My D coordinator right there, Brian Miller, he’s the best in the business, man. He is fantastic,” Saeger said. “I let him do the whole thing … and he puts our kids in great spots and we have this tough, tenacious, old school kids that love playing defense.”

For Jacob George, it was about pride in how the team responded.

“We were so proud of this, everyone — the way we fought, the way we came out and just blasted them right off the bat,” George said. “We were up 14-0 and then we just came out in the second half, all fired up, and we just finished it.”

Saeger said last year’s struggles and the team’s tough schedule helped shape this year’s growth.

“It wasn’t by accident,” he said. “I knew last year was gonna be rough and these kids just had to take it on the chin and grow and learn. We’re preparing them for a run hopefully … and you know, we’re not at that level (of Parkland and Exeter). But playing that level and coming out healthy and showing good things and being able to fix some things, I believe it does help us moving forward.”

For Saeger, Friday’s performance was also proof that the program’s identity has taken hold.

“We’re going to run the football and we’re going to play defense,” he said. “And we’re going to out-physical people. And that don’t always work. But when it does, man, like tonight, it is beautiful and it’s who we are.”

UP NEXT … The Bears will try to carry that momentum into the second half of the season when they host Nazareth — which suffered its first loss of the season Friday night against Parkland.

SPREADING IT AROUND … The Bears had plenty of players contribute offensively. Ward had six of his seven carries in the first half, Isaac Westerman (five), George (eight), Payan (seven), Marcelus Solt (three) and Haines (four) all finished with multiple carries. Payan, Ward and William Breuer finished the multiple catches, and Andrew Schmids also had a 15-yard grab.

Pleasant Valley 35, ES South 6

Pleasant Vy. 0 14 14 7 - 35

ES South 0 0 0 6 - 6

PV - Ward 47 pass from Haines (Duran kick)

PV - Ward 16 run (Duran kick)

PV - Haines 14 run (Duran kick)

PV - Ward 38 fumble return (Duran kick)

PV - Payan 56 run (Duran kick)

ESS - Greene-Williams 25 pass from Fuller (pass failed)