STROUDSBURG - A determined and ready Pleasant Valley football team came to play Thursday night against Stroudsburg.

PV rushed for 237 yards on the night, and senior Ryan Blass made a key interception late in the game to secure a 14-10 win over the Mountaineers.

The victory propels Pleasant Valley into the District 11 6A playoffs.

“Anytime you beat Stroudsburg, it’s a great feeling,” Bears head coach Blaec Saeger said. “For me personally, it hasn’t happened since 2010. They are the cream of the crop up here. They are an amazing program with amazing coaches. As a program, they are everything you want to be.

“To beat them means a lot. What a resilient group of kids we have ... coming off of that loss last week. But I could tell all week they were over it, and they showed that tonight.”

Pleasant Valley got a career game from senior fullback John Brennan.

Brennan showed he was going to be a factor early as the Bears orchestrated a 20-play, 90-yard drive after Stroudsburg went three-and-out on the game’s opening series. Brennan rushed for 49 yards in the drive to help set up Robert Papaleo’s 16-yard rushing touchdown that put the Bears on the board in the second quarter.

“It took every single one of us, all 11 on both sides of the ball,” Brennan said. “We got a great leader in No. 5 (Papaleo). He played through a lot, and every single one of us played through a lot of different bumps and bruises along the way.

This was a big game against a big rival, and we got the job done.”

Stroudsburg struggled after Papaleo’s first score as Mountaineers’ quarterback Ethan Sodl fumbled the ball on fourth-and-one, which resulted in turning the ball over on downs.

Jelonie Rieara bailed the Mountaineers out, however, when he picked off Papaleo with 4:33 left in the second quarter.

Stroudsburg was able to capitalize on Papaleo’s mistake as Sodl found Terrence Jewel for a 32-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 7-7. Stroudsburg took the lead when Logan Weitzmann’s 26-yard field goal bounced off the right crossbar and over the goal post to make it 10-7 with under a minute left in the third quarter.

But Papaleo and the Bears put together another long drive that the quarterback capped with a one-yard fourth-quarter TD run that gave the Bears a lead that they would make stand up.

“That’s how Pleasant Valley plays football,” Papaleo said. “Take control of the ball and the clock. Take a whole quarter off the clock and punch it in at the end. That’s exactly what we needed to do.”

THE GAME OF HIS LIFE ... Brennan rushed for 73 yards on the night, and elaborated more on his breakthrough performance. “We’ve come a long way as a group,” Brennan said. “For me personally, it was great. It felt amazing. Our front five got the job done. It feels great to celebrate a win and a playoff berth.”

PLAYOFFS TAKING SHAPE ... The win clinched a playoff spot for the Bears, who look like they will be the No. 7 seed in the eight-team field. Pocono Mountain West defeated East, 21-0, on Thursday to also lock up a spot in the Class 6A field.