Friday night had magic in the air for the Mountaineers. They completed a 21-point comeback to defeat Pleasant Valley, 35-21.

Stroudsburg got out of the gates slowly, falling behind early by three possessions. Down 21 at half, the Mountaineers came out firing in the second half.

In the locker room at halftime, Coach Jim Miller stated, “We weren’t coming out in the first half playing football…we had to crank it up a little.”

When Center Emanuel Laboy, ’25, said, “The first drive when we came out in the second half, we punched them, we moved them unlike we did in the first half.”

Crank it up they did. In a 3-minute span, Stroudsburg scored touchdowns from WR Ethan Dudsak, ’25, WR Kamari Coleman, ’25, and RB Jaylin Rieara, ’25. Stroudsburg also got key turnovers from the defense, with Brian Burns recovering a fumble and the Mountaineers intercepting a pass in that span.

Center Emaunel Laboy, ’25, said, “I felt the mood and momentum really changed when Brian [Burns] got the ball back. The entire offensive team ran onto the field ready to turn the game around as we were told to do during halftime.”

Keyen Johnson, ’27, scored the big touchdown to give the Mountaineers the lead in the fourth quarter. A couple of minutes later, Johnson found the endzone again, this time making the Mountaineers lead two possessions.

The final score was 35-21, with the Mountaineers clinching a playoff berth in the process.

Stroudsburg will now be on the road this week against top-seeded Easton in Round 1 of the District XI playoffs. The game is Friday night with the start time being released at a later date.