NEWMAN — You could virtually see the wheels turning in Hailey Starr’s brain as she tried to formulate an answer to the question.

“Any relation to Bart Starr?” she was asked after leading Orestimba High’s flag football team to a 25-0 victory over Hilmar on Thursday at Roger Pauletto Field.

“I’m not sure,” she said politely. “Who is that?”

For those of you who know who Bart Starr is, it’s time to take your Geritol. For those who don’t, we’ll save you the hassle of having to Google it: Bart Starr was a Hall of Fame quarterback who led the Green Bay Packers to victories in the first two Super Bowls. He was good. Very, very good. And that is why Hailey Starr was asked the question. She zinged the ball all over the field against the Yellowjackets just like Bart Starr used to do in the NFL.

Starr completed 16 of 37 passes for 243 yards and four touchdowns as the Warriors improved to 15-4 for the season and 4-0 in the Trans-Valley League. Hilmar dipped to 7-8 and 1-3 in league.

“We knew their quarterback could throw the ball,” said Hilmar head coach Paul Willis. “Our plan was not to let her throw deep. And she can throw deep. You saw her do it a couple, three times. That’s what they live and die with. I thought we did a good job in the first half. It was 6-0 at halftime, but offensively, they kind of had our number.”

On the second play of the game, Starr found Imelda Beltran-Pelayo for a 35-yard score to make it 6-0. It stayed that way for the next 23 minutes, thanks largely to Beltran-Pelayo, who halted a Yellowjackets drive with an interception in the end zone.

The second half started with both teams going three-and-out, before Hilmar turned the ball over on downs, with the Warriors taking over on the Yellowjackets’ 35. On the second play of the drive, a 29-yard TD strike was called back for flag-guarding. Not to be deterred, Starr hooked up with Madelyn Perez on the very next play for a 39-yard strike that made it 12-0.

Hilmar’s first play from scrimmage on the ensuing drive resulted in a Perez interception that she returned 40 yards for a score, but it too was nullified for flag-guarding. 

Orestimba drove down the field, but turned it over on downs when it was ruled the Warriors’ receiver stepped out of the back of the end zone, nullifying yet another OHS score.

With only 8 minutes to play, Hilmar needed to force the ball downfield in hopes of gaining large chunks of yardage. But each of the Yellowjackets’ final three possessions resulted in interceptions, and Orestimba capitalized with two more touchdowns.

“Hailey definitely gives us a whole lot of options that other teams just don’t have,” said Warriors head coach John Labno. “And our defense knows when they have to sit and when they have to go after the ball.”

Orestimba, ranked No. 24 in the Sac-Joaquin Section entering Thursday’s game, took on Hughson on Monday, while Hilmar traveled to the Gold Country to take on Sonora.

The Warriors four losses this season have come to Pitman (ranked No. 2 in the section and 13th in the state), El Capitan (20th in the section), Merced (27th in the section) and undefeated Livingston (No. 7 in the section and first in Division 3).