It has been 13 years since Pleasant Valley last won a district playoff game.

Back in 2012, the then-seventh-seed Bears surprised the second-seeded Stroudsburg Mounties, 24-21, in the Class 4A bracket.

Unfortunately, Pleasant Valley’s fame was short-lived, as they were thumped by sixth-seeded and eventual champion Parkland, 37-0.

Fast forward to 2025, and the Bears (5-5) will enter the District 11 Class 5A playoffs as the third seed and travel to second-seeded and rival Pocono Mountain East (7-3) tonight for a 5:10 p.m. kickoff.

Yet, maybe fate will be on their side.

Last week, Pleasant Valley edged Stroudsburg 10-6 to win the East Penn Conference (EPC) North title.

The Bears’ William Breuer intercepted a pass in the game’s closing seconds to halt a Stroudsburg potential winning drive, and seal the victory and the conference.

PV head coach Blaec Saeger has cherished the moments this season, watching his team flip the slate from an 0-11 season last year to a 5-5 mark and a postseason berth and an EPC crown this season.

“Last week was an incredible win and a well-deserved culmination for all our players, especially our seniors,” gushed Saeger. “We went from worst to first. We took a lot of beating last year, but we just kept believing that this year was going to be better.

“Our defense did a great job last week holding Stroudsburg to one touchdown. We need to keep playing at that level.”

Pleasant Valley enters the game with a two-game winning streak, and the Bears have won three of the last four.

What was their lone loss during their recent streak? It was a 28-0 defeat to Pocono Mountain East on Oct. 10, and the Cardinals won the Old Oaken Bucket trophy for the second consecutive year.

In that game, the Bears could never get their offense in gear, as they were plagued by four turnovers and 14 penalties.

They did rush for 153 yards among seven ball carries behind Chris Ward’s 63 yards.

Ward leads the team in rushing with 565 yards and eight touchdowns, and Niko Payan has added 414 yards and seven scores.

Bears’ quarterback Jaxson Haines has thrown for 675 yards with five touchdowns and three interceptions.

The Bears will rely on their running game that has accumulated 1,882 of their 2,563 yards of total offense. However, they will also need to slow Pocono Mountain East’s ground attack behind Amari Green, who has averaged better than 157 yards per contest.

In their first meeting, Green ran for 119 yards and found the end zone three times, handing the Bears their first division defeat this season.

Yet, for Saeger and his troops, getting back to the postseason has provided enough incentive after a winless campaign last year.

“We now shift our attention to avenging our lone division loss,” said Saeger. “We know we will have to win the battle up front to get our running game going and stop theirs. East has a great team and Saturday’s game will be very difficult, but we’re excited for the challenge and excited to play in the post season.”