The East Stroudsburg Cavaliers brought old school, smashmouth football to Brodheadsville on Friday, defeating the Pleasant Valley Bears, 38-28.

Running mostly between the tackles, South ran for 331 yards and put together long scoring drives. The Cavaliers’ game plan effectively kept the ball away from the Bears’ potent offensive attack, which was averaging 36 points per game coming into the contest.

The Cavs set the foundation with their opening possession.

Led by sophomore running back Avery Walker, who finished with 225 yards in the game, South drove 63 yards in seven minutes with Walker bolting into the end zone from two yards out.

A Bears penalty moved the extra-point try half the distance to the goal line, and a 2-yard burst by Michael Udeh lifted the Cavs to an 8-0 first quarter lead.

PV’s Chris Ward took direct snaps in the wildcat formation after a 44-yard kickoff return by Zidan Moore set up the Bears on the home team’s 41-yard line. The drive ended on downs at the ESS 15 with the clock moving into the second quarter.

The Cavs increased their lead to 11-0 on their next drive that ended six minutes later with a 25-yard field goal by Mamadou Ndiaye.

The Bears’ defense was forced right back onto the field after Chris Bowman recovered a PV fumble on the ensuing kickoff. Quarterback Greyson Fuller commandeered a 22-yard scoring drive and hit paydirt with a 6-yard bootleg around the right end.

Down 18-0, the Bears hit a touchdown play with 28 seconds left in the first half.

Quarterback Brandt Wines found William Breuer on a 43-yard pass and run to end the half with PV trailing 18-7.

A 50-yard run by the Bears’ Sean Cobb on their opening drive of the second half was negated by a holding penalty and the drive stalled, resulting in a fourth down punt to the Cavs’ 23.

Another long drive by South (2-3) of nearly six minutes was finished with a 2-yard Walker TD, making the score 25-7 in favor of the visitors.

Despite making defensive halftime adjustments, the Bears could not stop the Cavs’ ground and pound. PV coach Blaec Saeger was direct and blunt after the game.

“We got out-toughed,” he said. “They drove the ball right down our throats and we didn’t play physical enough to stop them.”

The Bears’ took just one play to score on their first possession of the second half.

From his own 36, Cobb ran a misdirection play and broke in the clear for a 64-yard TD to bring the score to 25-14 with 2:43 left in the third.

The comeback attempt appeared to fizzle when South marched 61 yards on its next possession, culminated by Fuller scoring on a 6-yard bootleg for the second time in the game.

The Bears (2-3) showed no quit when Ward took the snap and hit Cobb in stride for a 32-21 deficit with nine minutes left to play.

PV’s defense, on its heels all game long, still could not force a Cavaliers’ punt. This time a four-minute South drive increased the lead to 38-21 with a 16-yard scamper by Udeh.

The game’s final touchdown was scored with 4:11 left. After a dazzling 55-yard breakaway run from Ward, he finished the drive with a 4-yard TD jaunt off the left side.

Ward led the Bears with 100 yards rushing and 29 receiving.

The final score had Saeger upset with his team.

“We didn’t play physical football,” he said, “With tough opponents coming up on our schedule, we have some soul searching to do to see what kind of season our team wants this to be.”

CLOCK EATERS … Long scoring drives by East Stroudsburg South limited the Bears to only two first-half possessions.

BIG PLAYS NOT ENOUGH … The Bears hit on several big gainers: a 44-yard kick return, a 43-yard touchdown pass, a 64-yard TD run and a 55-yard run from the line of scrimmage. But they battled from behind all game long and came up short.

NEXT UP … The Bears travel Thursday to Northampton to take on the Konkrete Kids.

ES South 38, Pleasant Valley 28

ES South 8 10 7 13 - 38

Pleasant Valley 0 7 7 14 - 28

ESS - Av. Walker 2 run (Udeh run)

ESS - Ndiaye 25 FG

ESS - Fuller 6 run (Ndiaye kick)

PV - Breuer 43 pass from Wines (Duran kick)

ESS - Av. Walker 2 run (Ndiaye kick)

PV - Cobb 64 run (Duran kick)

ESS - Fuller 6 run (Ndiaye kick)

PV - Cobb 22 pass from Ward (Duran kick)

ESS - Udeh 16 run (kick blocked)

PV - Ward 4 run (Duran kick)