Bears outscore K-Kids
Pleasant Valley head coach Mark Versuk had the game plan for Northampton.
And the Bears went out and executed it.Pleasant Valley rolled up over 500 yards of total offense to claim a resounding 55-35 Eastern Pennsylvania Conference victory over the Konkrete Kids Friday night.The victory was a return to form following last week's 38-27 loss to Allentown Central Catholic, where the Bears were outscored 21-7 in the second half."They had a good week of practice, good focus," Versuk said. "We had a good game plan. Offensively, we thought we could do some things against Northampton. We were able to execute on offense."The kids were ready to go. They gave good effort against ACC (Allentown Central Catholic), it just didn't work out the way we wanted it to. But we didn't have a letdown at all. We had a good home game here again against a good team and we're 2-1."Pleasant Valley (2-1) jumped on Northampton early and led 34-14 at halftime.The first half surge was highlighted by three Mike Mitchell touchdowns. Mitchell finished with 132 yards rushing on 13 carries."It's a great feeling," Mitchell said. "We were really disappointed we lost to ACC ... we said we were going to come in and get the job done and do our work."I think we had our best week of practice and our coaches agree we had our best week of practice. We were ready and we were mentally prepared."While Mitchell did much of his damage on the ground, quarterback Brandon Keyes and wide receiver Justin Richardson torched the Konkrete Kids' (0-3) secondary.Keyes completed 16-of-21 passes for 278 yards and three scores, with Richardson recording five catches for 175 yards and two touchdowns.The two put a dagger in Northampton's comeback bid early in the second half after a Jared Stauffer (19 carries, 142 yards) three-yard scamper cut Pleasant Valleys' lead to 34-21 with 9:28 to play in the third quarter and gave the Konkrete Kids 14 unanswered points.On the first play from scrimmage on Pleasant Valley's next possession, Keyes hit Richardson streaking down the middle of the field for a 73-yard score. Keyes found Brandon Gilleece in the back of the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown on the Bears' next drive to make it 48-21."Our offense is very explosive - we have a lot of playmakers," said Keyes. "When we get the ball we expect to score. We can put the ball in pretty much anyone's hands and we'll be successful."I know they're gonna make plays, so if I get them the ball, I know they're going to be able to make the plays to get in the end zone."While happy with the win, Versuk acknowledged the team needs to continue to get better."We wanted to get off to a good start and 2-1 is good; we'd like to be 3-0 but 2-1 we'll take," the coach said. "We just have to keep moving. We have Allen coming up and we're going to come in tomorrow, work hard, correct the things that we did wrong both defensively and offensively and be ready to go."UNBLEMISHED... Friday's win made Pleasant Valley 2-0 at home this year. The Bears topped Nazareth at home in the season opener.TRENDING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION... Pleasant Valley's 2-1 start is its first since 2013, a year the Bears finished 7-4.HOW MANY?... Northampton has given up 153 points in its three games this season. The Konkrete Kids have surrendered at least 50 points in back-to-back weeks after a 50-0 loss to Bethlehem Catholic last Saturday.