ALLENTOWN - Poise, depth and the ability to respond well in the face of adversity...

It may seem that these are some of the defining qualities of a beauty pageant contestant. However, these traits were utilized perfectly by Pleasant Valley in its win over Dieruff in Eastern Pennsylvania Conference football action, as the Bears held on for a 41-34 victory."Where we want to go with our goals, we needed this win," Pleasant Valley head coach Dave Pacchioni said. "To get out with a win, I'll take it. But there are things we need to clean up: penalties, fumbles, and if you do those things, it will not help the cause. But those are things that we'll need to work on."The Bears had impressive showings in many offensive categories, but amassed 14 penalties for 108 yards, and committed two fumbles and an interception. But the scoreboard showed a Pleasant Valley win, keeping their goals within reach.On the Huskies' Homecoming, the Bears erected a 41-20 lead with just under three minutes left in the third. After the spirited Dieruff squad mounted a charge to make it interesting, Pacchioni's crew remained poised and under control to pull out the win.The Bears' starting tailback Austyn Borre led the offense throughout a majority of the game, but he pulled up lame after breaking a run (that was called back due to a penalty) in that third frame. Borre should be alright for next week, but needs to further analyze the injury.Borre helped set up his team's initial score of the night, as he carried three times during a drive that resulted in a 13-yard scoring pass from Brandon Kuehner to Demetrius Green for the early lead.The Huskies responded immediately, though, by driving right back down the field for a score, as QB Chris Marks broke loose for a 31-yard TD.Two possessions later, the Bears (4-3), went back to work, as they put together a seven-play, 85-yard drive to retake the lead, 13-7, after Borre pounded his way in from the 28.Dieruff showed its own resilience by responding again, as Shakur Lester scored on a 20-yard trot that knotted the game at 13-13 at the beginning of the second.Borre toted the ball 49 yards on five carries on the next Bear drive to set up Kuehner for his one-yard dive to regain the lead, 20-13 with just under seven minutes left before half.Tyson Calhoun's interception gave his team decent field position and four plays later, Kuehner connected with Borre on a reception for a 14-yard score, that made it 27-13 at the break.The back-and-forth style of play continued after the intermission, as Dieruff reeled off ten plays for 56 yards and another score, when Marks found Noah Holley for a six-yard score.That's when Borre took the ball 72 yards down the field, and teammate Dean Krcic added the extra point for a 34-20 edge halfway through the third.Another Huskie turnover (a fumble recovered by Matt Sheehan), brought up the Bears' final scoring drive of the night, as they went 54 yards in seven plays for a 41-20 lead with 2:53 left in the third. Eric Marbury found his way in from the 23 to cap off the drive. During this possession is when Borre went down; however Marbury picked up the majority of the workload for the winners, displaying the adversity and depth mentioned earlier.The Huskies' Devonte Robinson scored from the nine and after the Bears' ensuing possession resulted in an interception, Robinson found pay dirt again from the two for the 41-34 Pleasant Valley lead with eight minutes to play.The Bears' defense maintained the remainder of the game to hold out for the win."Every game is huge and essentially a championship game to us," Borre added. "We're just trying to keep this streak going and hopefully get to districts. This was one of the steps we need to take and next week is just another step."