Earlier in the week, Dave Pacchioni put the brunt of winning the key Eastern Pennsylvania Conference matchup with East Stroudsburg North on his seniors.

Friday, on Senior Night, the Pleasant Valley upperclassmen more than answered their first year coach's request.Without the availability of injured senior standouts Austyn Borre and Nyiem Nevarez there were several other upperclassmen who stepped up to assist the Bears in pulling out a 17-7 victory over visiting ES North."The seniors knew what had to be done," Pacchioni said. "We knew their running game was tough inside. Our front four on defense did a tremendous job with our backside safety playing a heck of a game. With the way they run their offense, it was tough to scheme."But, our guys came out and played their hearts out for 48 minutes. Forty-eight minutes of football, each and every championship week, is what we preach."It wasn't until the 47th minute of the contest when the Bears actually had enough breathing room to even think of a victory.After the defense held ES North on downs, the offense sealed the deal.Holding on to a slim 10-7 lead the majority of the second half, Pacchioni saw two of his 29 seniors combine for a highlight moment they'll remember for a lifetime.In fact, it was an opportunity senior wide receiver Kevin Cruz stated he was thinking about for a long time.With 1:24 left in the game, senior quarterback Brandon Kuehner stepped back in the pocket, had plenty of time to find an open receiver, and was able to find Cruz along the near sideline. Cruz, who was only targeted twice, took in his lone reception and beat several Timberwolve defenders to dive into the end zone for a nine-yard touchdown reception."Man, this is great," Cruz said. "Brandon and I have been playing football since we were at Polk Elementary School. We have been thinking about this game for a long time, probably around six years."It's great to have this opportunity to do this for my team on Senior Night."Kuehner was also part of the Bears' other touchdown, which came with five seconds left in the opening quarter.On his fifth completion in the first quarter, Kuehner caught junior Danny Hunter in stride for a 27-yard touchdown reception. Hunter, who finished with a Bears' high 50 yards on four catches, was one of seven different PV receivers Kuehner connected with in the victory.After the Timberwolves knotted the game on a Elijah McBride touchdown run, the Bears' Dean Krcic kicked a 35-yard field goal to give the hosts a 10-7 lead at half.But, when the final horn sounded, Kuehner, who also was recognized by the United States Army as the Player of the Game, was glad the Bears were able to come through in the end."We would have probably have not liked it to come down to the final minutes like it did, but our defense pulled through for us in the end," said Kuehner, who finished the game 14-for-19 for 176 yards and two touchdowns. "They came up with a clutch stop to give our offense the opportunity to go down the field and put the game away."But we definitely have a lot of talented seniors on our squad. They all deserve credit for tonight's win because everyone played their role and gave it a 110-percent."