Mary Star High football continued to fight hard through their youth, injuries and other viable pieces to their puzzle of a troubling 0-7 start to their 2014 season, an all signs potentially pointed to another agonizing defeat with an above-average Flintridge Prep of La Canada team coming to face them in a late-season nonleague game.

On this Friday night however, these Stars may have came in battered and bruised, but they left standing tall and triumphant as winners.

The Stars built a 21-0 halftime lead before holding on down the stretch to defeat Flintridge Prep, 38-23 at Daniels Field for their first victory of 2014, avoiding a potential second winless season in four years after reaching the CIF-Southern Section playoffs in each of the last two seasons.

Junior running back Vinny Lauro's seven-yard touchdown run with 7:17 left in the first quarter ended a long ten-play game-opening drive, putting the Stars (1-7 overall, 0-2 in the Santa Fe League) up 7-0, and they went on from there. 

However, there was one play late in the first quarter where you knew the 'football gods' were smiling with the Stars.

With Mary Star threatening on Flintridge Prep's 13-yard line, sophomore quarterback Robert Enciso's option pitch sailed slightly over the head of junior running back Jarod Alves, who somehow managed to track the ball down towards the Mary Star sideline. Alves then shed off one tackler, made a cutback move to elude a second tackler, then reversed his field to the right corner of the end zone for a spectacular touchdown.

Alves' remarkable heads-up moment turned into an instant highlight and a 14-0 Mary Star lead with 1:03 left in the first quarter, and the Rebels did not know what hit them.

Alves' second touchdown on a three-yard run gave the Stars a 21-0 advantage with 7:39 remaining in the second quarter, and the defense would stand their ground for the remainder of the half in shutting out the Rebels, who outscored Mary Star 23-17 in the second half, but the Stars were not to be denied.

After Flintridge Prep scored with 8:07 to go in the third quarter to cut their deficit down to 21-7, Alves booted in a 38-yard field goal to increase Mary Star's lead to 24-7 with 5:10 remaining. The defense would then force a turnover as the Stars recovered a bad snap from center on Flintridge Prep's 38-yard line. Four plays later, Enciso dumped off a screen pass to Lauro which he then would turn into a 23-yard touchdown, and a 31-7 Stars lead with 2:02 to play in the third quarter.

Lauro's second touchdown run, and third score of the day from six yards away would give the Stars a 38-15 advantage with 3:57 to play in the fourth quarter, and that was all she wrote for the rest of the night.

Mary Star's final two games will be played at Daniels Field, and the Stars will next host Bosco Tech of Rosemead in a Santa Fe League game, 5 pm on Halloween Friday.