SWIFTWATER — Sometimes, it just isn’t your night.

Whether it was a letdown from an emotional win the week before or just the fact the opponent was better, Pleasant Valley couldn’t gain any momentum Saturday in its District 11 Class 5A semifinal playoff contest.

Host Pocono Mountain East scored twice within the game’s first four minutes, while its defense stymied the Bears throughout the game to post a 27-0 victory and advance to the title round.

“I thought my kids were ready to play,” said PV head coach Blaec Seager. “They seemed very focused. They seemed like them, and then came out — and I don’t know, I guess we just have to give a lot of credit to Pocono Mountain East. They’re a very good football team.

“They beat us in a lot of ways, and obviously I didn’t have them ready. That falls on me. I thought our kids continued to hang and fight back ... But it wasn’t our night.”

The Cardinals put Pleasant Valley in an early hole with their dynamic offense, both on the ground and through the air.

After receiving the opening kickoff, East hit on a 23-yard pass from Ceejay Serfass to Justin Williams on its first play from scrimmage. Moments later, Amari Green broke free for a 29-yard touchdown run with just 40 seconds off the clock.

A quick three-and-out by the Bears, and a short punt gave Pocono East great field position. A Serfass-to-Williams hook-up for 33 yards gave the hosts a first-and-goal, and Serfass eventually found Green for an 8-yard scoring toss. Just like that, it was 14-0.

“They can do a lot,” said Saeger. “They were just physically winning up front, and they were just ripping off runs left and right tonight. And then that opens up the quick game. They’re very explosive.”

While Pocono’s offense continued to churn out yards, and the Bears were having trouble getting much going, PV managed to keep the score at 14-0 the rest of the half — at least until the final second.

Saeger’s club dodged two field goal attempts — one a block by Sean Cobb — but couldn’t avoid a crippling score right before heading to the locker room.

Following a turnover on downs in which Pleasant Valley’s fourth-down run by Jaxson Haines came up a yard short, the Cardinals took over at their 28-yard line with 1:01 until the break. Passes of 23, 21 and 12 yards got Pocono in the red zone with time winding down.

Serfass completed the fast drive with a 12-yard scoring toss to Kevin Davis in the rear corner of the end zone with one second showing to increase the margin to 20-0.

“As an offensive coach, I hate when drives stall,” said East mentor Dustin Thomas. “They’ll lull you to sleep and then one big play (and the game is close). So, it was hard when it was just 14-0. But we did a great job communicating as an offense (on that drive before the half).

“The kids talk to me all the time about what they see, and I trust them. We kind of just trusted Kevin and Ceejay to make a play.”

Not being able to reach the end zone on one of its best scoring chances, and then seeing East go down and tally was crushing for PV.

“Momentum is everything, and we couldn’t punch one in there. We couldn’t punch one in all night,” said Saeger. “Nothing went right for us tonight ...Pocono East has a good team and played a great game. They’re going to the district title game and they deserve it.”

While a full half was yet to be played, it was clear Pleasant Valley needed something drastic to turn things around. That something never happened.

Instead, the Cardinals defense continued to frustrate the Bears.

“Coach (Bobby) Fox did an amazing job, and he has for the past two years,” said Thomas of his defensive coordinator. “Our defense has not let up a single point against them. Last year when it was 10-7, it was a pick-six (and this year it was 28-0 the first time). The kids are almost like a part of him, just how well he coaches the kids and the connections they have.”

Pocono East tacked on another score two plays into the fourth quarter when Serfass threw his third TD pass of the night — a 13-yarder to Connor Triano.

The loss ended PV’s season, which included a division title and a huge improvement from a year ago.

“Nothing negative about the season,” said Saeger. “We came off the worst year ever to go 5-5 (in the regular season). If we have a different schedule, who knows? We had one of the toughest schedules around. But still, to end it with hoisting the (division) championship on our field last week was amazing.

“There were a lot of highs and lows ... That’s life, and that’s what we try to stress to our kids. You have to go through the good and bad, and you have to deal with adversity.”

STATS ... Serfass ended 19-of-26 for 219 yards and three TDs. Williams had nine catches for 137 yards. Green ran for 148 yards on 15 carries. For PV, Isaac Westerman rushed for 47 yards, while Jacob George collected 42 on the ground.

MORE NUMBERS ... East finished with 403 yards of offense to the Bears’ 170. The Cardinals had 18 plays of 10 or more yards, while PV had only two.

UP NEXT ... Pocono East (8-3) meets Whitehall in Saturday’s district championship game.

PM East 27,

Pleasant Valley 0

Pleasant Vy. 0 0 0 0 - 0

PM East 14 6 0 7 - 27

PME - Green 29 run (Angst kick)

PME - Green 8 pass from Serfass (Angst kick)

PME - Davis 12 pass from Serfass (kick blocked)

PME - Triano 13 pass from Serfass (Angst kick)