SAN BERNADINO – It’s been a while, but Mary Star High football finally breaks the win column in their first game of a season.

Not only that, the Stars also finally cleared one of their biggest hurdles in recent years.

By virtue of their convincing 31-7 victory over host Aquinas of San Bernadino in their 2015 nonleague season opener, Mary Star showed not only to the Falcons, but to themselves and their fans that they truly can be a ‘home of the hitters’.

Just finding a way to contain Aquinas, a team that destroyed California Military Institute, 84-14 over a week ago, and demolished the Stars, 40-0 to open off last season, is all the more impressive, as first-year coach Jason Gelber instilled a newfound belief to the Stars that they can not only compete, but they can be successful doing so.

Mary Star (1-0 overall) hadn’t beaten Aquinas (1-1) since 2007, so snapping that seven-game losing streak was vital to set the tone for what should be an eye-opening year.

The first half was all Star-studded, as senior RB/LB Jarod Alves recovered a fumble on the Falcons’ first possession of the game, leading to his own 28-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead in the first quarter. Junior safety Xavier Martinez then picked off Aquinas senior quarterback Courtland Boucher’s first pass on their next series, and suddenly, the Stars smelled blood and went on the attack.

Two big 20-yard rushes by Alves and senior running back William Davis set up senior running back Vinny Lauro’s one-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. Mary Star’s defense then forced a turnover on downs, leading to Alves’ 13-yard touchdown run for a 17-0 lead with 1:36 remaining before halftime.

Aquinas started off the second half with a drive that took off half the third quarter time frame, but it stalled, leading to another punt, and the Stars took advantage on Lauro’s second touchdown run of five yards with 4:09 to play for a stunning 24-0 lead.

Finally, the Falcons broke through with a touchdown on senior running back Johnny Padilla’s four-yard score with 11:13 left in the fourth quarter, cutting Mary Star’s lead down to 24-7, but the drive itself was aided by a pair of 15-yard penalties.

Sure enough, the Stars regrouped and answered right back with Lauro’s 15-yard touchdown run to cap off a long drive, which was kept alive by an Aquinas roughing-the-kicker penalty when the Falcons appeared to have held Mary Star to a three-and-out series.

Senior defensive end Justin Rodriguez’s critical sack on Aquinas’ final drive led to another turnover on downs to seal the hard fought victory.

In all, Mary Star’s defense was superb, forcing four punts. Rodriguez had two sacks, while Lauro, Alves, senior defensive lineman Anthony Castagnola, junior defensive ends Izzy Amalfitano and Matt Sestich, junior defensive lineman Daichi Kusunoki and senior defensive lineman Anthony Garcia all registered a tackle for loss. Alves also kicked four touchbacks on kickoffs to add to Mary Star’s advantage on field position.

The quarterback tandem of junior Robert Enciso and sophomore Matt Marquez both did well in running the Stars’ newly-installed no-huddle offense.

With this solid victory, Mary Star will try to build off of it next Friday at Capistrano Valley Christian of San Juan Capistrano.