Pleasant Valley’s Chris Ward will always remember his last high school regular-season football game — especially the last play.

With the Bears holding a four-point advantage against Stroudsburg, and the Mounties having time for one last play, Ward tracked down quarterback Jack Mitchell and recorded a sack to seal PV’s 40-36 victory.

The win not only extended the team’s winning streak to four games, but also secured the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Monroe Division championship.

“It felt good to sack the quarterback on the last play of the game,” said Ward. “Honestly, the tackle had me the entire night, so I thought he was going to try blocking me. Coach (Brian) Miller just told me, ‘Go after the quarterback, get him and win the game for us,’ and I saw no one was there. And I took the opportunity.”

While that final defensive play set off a wild celebration by the Bears, Ward did more than just register a sack.

The senior scored three touchdowns and a two-point conversion, accounting for half of his team’s points. He carried 13 times for 112 yards, reaching the end zone on runs of seven, 10 and 65 yards. The linebacker was also a force on defense, finishing with 10 tackles, four quarterback pressures, one forced fumble — and of course, the sack.

That overall performance, which led to a title, earned him the Times News Football Player of the Week.

“We could be here a while if I had to talk about Chris’s importance,” said Pleasant Valley head coach Blaec Saeger. “He’s more than just what you see on the field. I’ve said to anybody that’s asked as good as a football player as he is, he’s even a better person.

“He’s a kid who goes out and makes the game-sealing sack, or against West the game-sealing interception, runs for 100 or 200 (yards), throws touchdown passes, and then after the game he takes the water jug back. That’s the kind of kid he is. He’s been a blessing, and I’m ecstatic to have him. He’s going to be missed whenever this run ends.”

Speaking of running, Ward has picked up 1,276 rushing yards on just 134 carries — an average of 9.52 per attempt. For his career, he has run for 2,549 yards and scored 40 touchdowns. And this season, he’s also played some quarterback, something that was presented to him after the 2025 campaign.

“Coach Saeger at the end of the season last year asked me if I was ready for a bigger role, and maybe I’d be playing quarterback a little bit, and I was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll give it a shot,’” said Ward. “When he calls a passing play, my job is to make that happen and that’s just the way it goes.”

In limited time at the position, he has completed 15-of-20 passes for 250 yards and four TDs.

His versatility — anywhere on the field — is something his coach has always valued, whether it’s on offense, defense or special teams.

“He is offensively more important (to us than on defense), if I had to quantify it,” said Saeger. “He’s now a three-time all-league outside linebacker and worth every penny there, but he does so much for us offensively. He opens up so much for us ... He has the ability to run, the ability to throw, the ability to lead; and he’s just so physical, he’s a warrior. You can’t say enough good things about him.

“I haven’t found anything he’s not good at. I think we could put him at guard and he’d compete for all-league. He’s that kind of kid. You don’t get a whole lot of them. I’ve been around 24 years, and I haven’t had too many Chris Wards.”

While Ward excels with the ball in his hand, he doesn’t mind not having it either.

In fact, his blocking prowess has helped his backfield mate — Sean Cobb — run for 821 yards this season, including 166 in Friday’s win.

“We just know that when one person has the ball, the other person has to block,” said Ward. “Whether it’s (Sean) with the sweep or me going in motion, we’re just rooting for each other to get a lot of yards. He’s got speed, so if it’s a toss I know I just have to block the first person I see and he can usually run past the rest of the defense.”

As a senior, Ward also had another role — one given to him by his teammates.

“Chris is a quiet kid. You don’t hear him say very much. He’s one of those lead-by-example kids,” said Saeger. “Through the good and the bad, he’s always there. He’s as steady as they come. He’s not going to be the rah-rah guy, and we don’t ask him to be. But he got voted as a captain for a reason.

“When you talk as little as he does and still get that much respect from your peers, it just shows you what kind of person you are. We can always look at Chris and know he’s going to have his A game.”