Pleasant Valley’s football team was looking to build off an impressive victory against East Stroudsburg South last week.

The hope would be short-lived as Nazareth rolled into Brodheadsville on Thursday night and cruised to a 43-6 win.

With the Bears riding the highs of last week, the Blue Eagles were searching for their first victory without their star quarterback and Auburn commit Peyton Falzone, who suffered a broken collarbone two weeks prior against Freedom.

The lack of his presence was noticeably felt last week as Parkland steamrolled Nazareth for its first loss of the year.

With PV getting the first touch, it played to its strength on the ground.

Despite not scoring, a 10-play drive drained more than half of the first quarter, playing into the Bears’ gameplan. Unfortunately for the home squad, a combination of no-huddle offense and pure talent all throughout the Eagles’ lineup was too much to contain.

A 62-yard catch-and-run from Luke DePietro capped off a six-play drive to put Nazareth on the board with 3:52 left in the opening period.

After a PV fumble, the Bears recovered with a defensive stop only for the Eagles to respond with another stop. After that, they let their talent go to work again.

With 43 seconds remaining in the quarter, it took three plays for star running back Marquez Wimberly to go 51 yards, including 26 on the third carry, to give his squad a 15-0 lead at the end of the first frame.

The second quarter saw more of the same as Nazareth forced another stop and set up its offense for another successful drive.

On the sixth play, backup QB Cooper Madsen showcased how effective he can be in the absence of Falzone, throwing a 53-yard pass to Matt Leluga to set up Will Bacolo’s 1-yard TD for a 22-0 score.

“That’s big for us here; obviously we’re in growing mode again now,” Eagles head coach Tom Falzone said about not having his son playing QB. “You went from a guy who knew how to handle things out there as a senior, and now we’ve got a sophomore out there, so other guys have to just pick up the game around him.

“The line did a good job up front, and the receivers stepped up making plays for Cooper too.”

Pleasant Valley’s next drive showed promising signs as five carries from Jacob George and two from Chris Ward combined for 60 yards to set up a 6-yard TD run by Niko Payan to get the Bears on the board with 58 seconds left in the first half.

But on the first play of Nazareth’s next possession, Wimberly broke through the PV defense for a 66-yard TD run just 16 seconds later, essentially breaking the Bears’ back.

Despite a valiant effort from both George and Ward on the ground, it wasn’t enough to generate any offense in the second half for PV, while the Blue Eagles scored on their first two possessions on receptions from DePietro (39 yards) and Wimberly (25 yards) to ice the game.

Despite the loss, Bears’ coach Blaec Saeger had nothing but positive things to say about the effort and determination his players put out on the field.

“I’m extremely proud of the way my kids fought and played,” he said. “For a while, we went toe-to-toe, and when push came to shove, they were better than us, and there is no shame in that. Sometimes you walk into people that are better than you, but my kids never backed down.

“We got stops and moved the ball very well for the most part, (but Nazareth) just had a little too much firepower for us.”

Even coach Falzone had high praise for the performance of the home team.

“It’s just a physical test when you play a team like this, and it’s an offense we normally don’t see,” he said. “It’s hard to prepare for the triple option when you really only have one work day, so you have to make adjustments around that. Physically they are tough up front. Coach Saeger does a good job, but I’m just happy to get out of here with the win.”

NEXT WEEK … For Week 7, Pleasant Valley travels to East Stroudsburg North, while Nazareth returns home to face Liberty.

Nazareth 43, Pleasant Valley 6

Nazareth 15 14 14 0 - 43

Pleasant Valley 0 6 0 0 - 6

N - L. DePietro 62 pass from Madsen (Stoneback kick)

N - Wimberly 26 run (Zuercher run)

N - Bacolo 1 run (Stoneback kick)

PV - Payan 6 run (run failed)

N - Wimberly 66 run (Stoneback kick)

N - DePietro 39 pass from Madsen (Stoneback kick)

N - Wimberly 25 pass from Madsen (Stoneback kick)

Records: Nazareth (5-1); Pleasant Valley (2-3)