DINGMANS FERRY - With less than 15 seconds to play and trailing by eight points, East Stroudsburg North quarterback Thomas Melchiorre took the snap and burrowed into Pleasant Valley's defensive line.

Melchiorre, who rushed for 157 yards in Friday night's Eastern Pennsylvania Conference game against the Bears, needed just one yard to get into the end zone and give the Timberwolves a chance to tie the game and send it to overtime.But the junior couldn't find the opening he needed as time expired, and Pleasant Valley walked away with a hard-fought 21-13 victory."Talk about playing 48 minutes of football," Pleasant Valley head coach Dave Pacchioni said afterwards. "They took it right to the end there. But our defense did a tremendous job coming back in the second half."So did the offense.Trailing 13-0 at the intermission, the Bears (5-3) were able to give the Timberwolves a taste of their own medicine with a 13-play, 72-yard drive that chewed up nearly seven minutes to begin the third quarter.Trent Thomas, who carried the ball 20 times for 197 yards, capped the possession with a two yard score to make it 13-7 and give Pleasant Valley all the momentum it needed."We knew we had to come back," Thomas said. "The seniors took control and we knew it was on us."Thomas wasn't alone in the comeback, as fellow senior Austyn Borre, who finished with 67 yards rushing on 17 carries, punctuated a late third quarter drive with a score from a yard out.The Timberwolves (2-6) wouldn't be denied, driving to the Pleasant Valley six-yard line on the next possession.With Melchiorre rolling out of the pocket on third-and-five, it appeared as if the junior had a receiver in the end zone. But it was Pleasant Valley's Mike Mitchell that came down with the ball, ending a drive that started on ES North's own 15-yard line."When you play a team like this, you stress, 'Run, Run, Run,'" Pacchioni said. "But when they throw it, you still have to be ready."I thought we had great coverage all night. Sometimes when you run that much, you can get lulled to sleep. Mike Mitchell made a huge play there and turned the game around."The Bears took the ball right down the field their next drive, as Thomas put the it into the end zone from 12 yards out for his second score of the game to give Pleasant Valley a 21-13 advantage.But again, ES North answered, taking the ball 79 yards to the goal line on the legs of Melchiorre.After converting a fourth-and-one from the Pleasant Valley two yard-line, Melchiorre spiked the ball to set up the final play.Despite coming up short, Timberwolves' head coach Chuck Dailey was pleased with the effort from his team."I was very proud of my kids and the way they were able to rebound," Dailey said. "They took the ball down the field and put us in a position to potentially tie the game there, but we came up a little bit short."MOVING UP. … Per Duke Helm's statistics, Borre's touchdown gave him 61 for his career, breaking a tie with Marian's Mike Tracy for 28th place all-time in District 11.STREAKING. … Pleasant Valley has now won five straight games following an 0-3 start to the season. The victory also gave the Bears their seventh straight victory over the Timberwolves.GROUND AND POUND. … Friday night's game was ES North's sixth without completing a pass. The Timberwolves have four pass completions as a team this season on 29 attempts.