Getz saves the day for PV

Coming into the 2011 high school football season, Pleasant Valley's Robert Getz knew he would have to do a little bit of everything in order to help his football team compete.

Friday night against Honesdale, he did a lot of everything.

The senior tailback totaled 351 yards of offense and helped his Bears come from behind to knock off the Hornets, 40-37 in non-league play. Getz ran for 211 yards, caught 140 more and scored four times on the night. He also returned most of the kickoffs and punts and even picked off a pass on defense. He single-handedly saved the game for the Bears, as he racked up 78 yards and a touchdown on the game-winning drive alone.

"We made some mistakes, but as Coach (Jim) Terwilliger says great teams always find a way to win," said an exhausted Getz afterward. "We made some mistakes in the second and third quarters and we still found a way to win. I think our guys have a lot of heart and I think that is something positive that we can take away from this game.

"It is fun to play in a game like this, I will tell you that. When you have the ball and you know you have to score - and that you will score - it is a great feeling. It's an attitude. It's pride. I think we had more of that tonight."

Pleasant Valley (1-1) jumped out to a 13-0 lead by scoring on its first two possessions of the night. Troy Verway found Sekou Jones for a five-yard touchdown to start things off. Getz followed with his first score of the night just over three minutes later.

However, Honesdale responded in a hurry and tied the game midway through the second quarter. The Bears did retake the lead on Getz's second touchdown, which was a swing pass that he took 50 yards to the house, but ended up letting the Hornets score on the last play of the half to tie the game at 20.

Honesdale would go up by ten late in the third quarter, but this time it was the Bears' turn to score late. Terwilliger called a reverse pass and watched as Andrew Romeo found Hiram Woodruff wide open for a 34-yard touchdown.

Getz then showed his worth to the Pleasant Valley program once again, as he picked off a pass and scored a touchdown two minutes later to put the Bears up 33-30. Honesdale followed with a ten-play drive to take a 37-33 lead with 1:42 remaining.

It was then 'Rob Getz Time' once again as the Bears took over at their own 20. Getz reeled off a 32-yard run on the first play to get things rolling. Two plays later he took a screen pass 43 yards down to the three. He would punch it in on the very next play to give his team the lead and eventually the victory.

"Honesdale came in here and competed as well as any football team that we have played against in my three years here," said Terwilliger. "They are a well coached football team and they played their rear-ends off.

"I don't want to say that our guys may have taken them lightly, but they hung around and we played and we found a way to win. It was a tough one, but a win is a win and we will take it any way we can get it."

Although Terwilliger is an offensive-minded coach and was happy his offense put up points, he was not pleased with his defense what-so-ever. Honesdale, who gained just 195 yards of offense last week against Wallenpaupack, went for 399 on the Bears.

"We have a lot of holes that we have to figure our defensively," Terwilliger said. "Right now we are not a good defensive football team. We gave up 37 tonight after giving up 60-some last week. We need to have some changes. There isn't a spot that is safe on our defense right now."