Pleasant Valley’s William Breuer made the biggest catch of his career Friday night, and the throw wasn’t even intended for him.

Breuer intercepted a go-for-broke pass by Stroudsburg on the goal line just as time ran out to give the Bears a 10-6 win and an East Penn Conference Northern Division championship.

It was a tight game all night. At the end, the Mounties had a sliver of hope when they received a punt on their own 22. But they only had 40 seconds left to make something happen.

Mounties quarterback Jackson Mitchell twice connected with receivers to his left, taking the ball to the PV 46 with 10.1 seconds remaining.

A quick pass to James Ennis by Mitchell on the sideline didn’t gain any yardage, but it stopped the clock at six seconds when Ennis ran out of bounds.

Then Mitchell faded back to pass. He looked to his left but then turned and threw the ball toward the end zone on the right side of the field, with senior Essam Alrefai appearing to be open in the end zone.

Breuer, a lanky 6-4 junior, read the play and ran to his right just in front of the end zone and in front of Alrefai. He jumped at an angle and clutched the ball in his chest, then ran untouched toward his bench to secure the victory for the Bears.

After the routine handshakes by the two teams at game’s end, PV students charged onto the field to congratulate the team, hugging and taking photos while players held the EPC championship plaque.

Just a year ago, Pleasant Valley was the doormat of the league.

“We went from worst to first,” head coach Blaec Saeger said. “We went 0 and 11 last year and we took every one of those beatings on the chin (but) they never stopped believing that this year would be better.” he said of his squad.

Saeger added, “We knew we had it in us, and tonight was the night we culminated it, so we are the EPC North Division Champions.”

Of Breuer’s spectacular catch, Saeger said, “It was fantastic. Breuer is a heck of a player, a heck of a kid, man.”

Breuer said it was his only interception this year, but that he had several last year. This was his most important, he agreed.

“It was the best feeling in the world; it iced the game,” he said.

The interception came as a result of Breuer closely following the play.

He said he spotted that his right side of the field was stacked with receivers.

“I saw the trips on one side,” he said. “Their tallest receiver was on that side. So I thought the ball was coming my way.”

The journey taken to reach that dramatic finish by Pleasant Valley was a slow, deliberate one.

The Bears executed a well-managed ground game that let PV eat up the clock during most of the game.

PV took the opening kickoff on their 13 and held it for 15 plays, losing it on downs and turning it over to Stroudsburg with just 2:37 remaining in the first quarter. The Mounties had just four plays in that quarter.

“It’s a game plan every week,” Saeger said. “(Stroudsburg) has a really good quarterback, so we don’t want to give him the ball.”

He said, “We want to win up front. We want to be the more physical team. We want to control the tempo and it worked today.”

Stroudsburg drew first blood. Midway through the second quarter, lineman Zion Essington scooped up a Pleasant Valley fumble at midfield and rumbled to the PV 25 before he was stopped. Five plays later, junior fullback Keyen Johnson veered off center and strolled into the end zone from the 2. PV’s Sean Cobb, a sophomore, blocked the extra point attempt.

The Bears came right back and scored on their next drive. Senior Niko Payan broke through left tackle and ran 15 yards for a touchdown. Ethan Duran kicked the point-after.

The final points came in the third quarter when Duran booted a 25 yard field goal to make the score 10-6.

Saeger credits the defense with playing a major role in the victory.

“My D coordinator, Brian Miller, he put the plan together,” Saeger said. “He and his staff are awesome to hold (Stroudsburg) to one touchdown. The kids do it all and Brian Miller is the best in the business.”

Both teams finished the season at 5-5.

IT REALLY IS A TEAM EFFORT … Saeger didn’t single out any players for the win, and one reason is because he uses so many. Eight different Bears carried the ball. Stroudsburg had only two running backs with carries.

SOME NUMBERS … Pleasant Valley had an unofficial 215 yards rushing and 34 yards passing, while Stroudsburg had 83 yards on the ground and 94 in the air. In the first quarter, the Mounties had just 15 offensive yard compared with 62 for PV.

LONG HALFTIME … It was homecoming at Pleasant Valley. The halftime lasted longer than usual because three events occurred. First, a veteran was honored, as occurs at all Pleasant Valley home games. Then the homecoming introductions and coronation happened. The Pleasant Valley marching band took the field after that for its routine.

Pleasant Vy. 10,

Stroudsburg 6

Stroudsburg 0 6 0 0 - 6

Pleasant Vy. 0 7 3 0 - 10

S - Johnson 2 run. (kick blocked)

PV - Payan, 15 run (Duran kick)

PV - Duran, 25 field goal