MARS — At times, Mars looked like an inexperienced football team on Friday night.

However, the Planets kept grinding away, and the resilient effort translated to a season-opening 26-8 victory over Moon at the Mars Athletic Complex.

Mars running back Jason Lozzi's performance served as a microcosm for the evening. He fumbled on his first touch of the season, but the sophomore refused to get discouraged.

“I just didn't want to get down on myself,” said Lozzi. “I knew I had to come back. I had to support the team and do as good as I could.”

Lozzi kept his head up and ran downhill, plowing his way to 148 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries.

His first score came with 48 seconds remaining in the third quarter and gave Mars a 13-8 lead over the Tigers.

“That was the best feeling ever,” said Lozzi. “I was so happy.”

From there, the Planets never looked back, but Moon gave Mars everything it could handle for the first three quarters of play.

After a scoreless first frame, the Planets were first to get on the board with a 27-yard aerial strike from sophomore Owen Nearhoof to junior Jacob Wright in the second quarter.

On third-and-9, Nearhoof lobbed a pass to the front-right corner of the end zone. Wright made a leaping grab in traffic just beyond the pylon and little room on the sideline.

The acrobatic score didn't deter Moon, though. Just two plays later, Caleb Jakiel fired a laser down the sideline to Garrett Mont, who outran the defense for a 67-yard touchdown.

After Mars jumped offside on the point-after attempt, Moon elected to go for the 2-point conversion and V.J. Dean punched it in to give the Tigers an 8-7 edge.

“A young team could panic,” said Mars head coach Scott Heinauer. “But they hung in there and gutted it out.

“Our kids obviously did a great job. They listened and they came through.”

Moon tested the Planets' mettle to start the second half. The Tigers picked up two quick first downs and a 35-yard screen pass from Jakiel to Ian Kelly set Moon up with a first-and-goal on the Mars 4-yard line.

The Planets shut the door, though, and took the game over after a 23-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right.

“We should have punched it in, but it didn't go that way,” said Moon head coach Mark Thompson. “Sometimes, that's the difference between winning games and losing games — getting that momentum swing.”

Mars gobbled up the majority of the third quarter with a 13-play, 80-yard drive which was capped by Lozzi's first touchdown run.

After a three-and-out from the Tigers, Mars seized all of the momentum with a seven-play, 36-yard drive, ending with Lozzi's second 1-yard score of the game.

“My line did so good tonight,” said Lozzi. “They opened up big holes for me and I give all of the credit to them.”

“That's our trademark in a sense. We want to run the football,” said Heinauer. “We took control of the ballgame — that's what our Wing-T does. We hold the football and we drove the ball down the field.”

Mars iced the game with four minutes remaining on a 2-yard scoring run from senior Elliot Woodward.

“I'm glad my guys fought in there, but you've got to learn to go four quarters,” said Thompson. “That's one thing we've got to do.”

Heinauer was encouraged by his team's ability to shake off an up-and-down first half and secure a victory with a dominant showing in the fourth quarter.

“It's important. We have a young team, and obviously, you can see we made a lot of mistakes,” said Heinauer. “I was very proud of our kids in the second half. Our backs were against the wall.”

“(The win) gives us so much confidence,” said Lozzi. “We're just going to come back next week and progress as much as we can to get better.”