SCORING SUMMARY
Los Banos 7 7 7 7 — 28
Lathrop 0 14 0 7 — 21
First quarter
LB — David Herrera 1 run (Armani Molina kick), 2:27.
Second quarter
L — Roman Giordano 40 run (Anthony Cuellar kick), 10:49.
LB — Kayson Welch 9 pass from Herrera (Molina kick), 5:34.
L — Teagan Shevlin 1 run (Cuellar kick), 0:25.
Third quarter
LB — Mark Carreiro 12 run (Molina kick), 5:27.
Fourth quarter
L — Jeremiah Green 1 run (Cuellar kick), 6:55.
LB — Welch 23 pass from Herrera (Molina kick), 4:53.
Lathrop had a chance to claim its first league title on Friday but was done in by penalties and big plays in a 28-21 defeat to visiting Los Banos at Bennie Gatto Field.
The setback may have also dealt a serious blow to the Spartans’ shot at making the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs for just the second time.
They welcome Old River Rivalry nemesis Mountain House in the Western Athletic Conference finale next week, and does not guarantee berth. Meanwhile, Los Banos (6-0, 7-2) faces cross-town rival Pacheco (5-1, 6-3) with sole possession of the WAC championship on the line.
Lathrop’s final drive of the game ended with 1:15 remaining when Green’s halfback pass to A.J. Duenez fell short on fourth-and-sixth from Los Banos’ 31. Tigers quarterback David Herrera kneeled it out the clock from there.
“Our coaches stressed all week that this was going to be an opportunity and a challenge for us to do something that this school has never done,” Lathrop standout Jeremiah Green said. “We all took it upon ourselves to step up and make a commitment to that. I think we tried our best and we came up short, but I’m really proud of these guys.””
The Spartans (4-2, 5-4) rode Green’s back in the second half after starting tailback Roman Giordano went down with an injury. The senior wingback/cornerback shifted to Giordano’s spot in the backfield, finishing with a game-high 120 yards on 17 rushes. He also caught two passes for 30 yards, and intercepted a pass from Herrera late in the second quarter. His 1-yard touchdown plunge tied the game at 21-21 with 6:55 to go.
Los Banos, which never trailed, jumped back ahead for good on the following drive, as Herrera hit 6-foot-3 receiver Kayson Welch for a 23-yard pass on a jump ball.
“We lean a lot on Jeremiah Green, offensively and defensively,” Lathrop coach Ryan Teicheira said. “He’s a special kid and a hard worker. He’s going to give us anything and everything he’s got. He’s great with the ball in his hands, and we leaned on him a lot in the second half and he answered.
“He did a great job for us, but losing Roman hurts because it takes away a little bit from our special plays with Green at ‘z.’”
Overall, Lathrop outgained the Tigers in offensive yards, 324-226, while running 61 plays to the visitors’ 35. Giordano added 55 yards rushing and a touchdown on 12 attempts, and junior quarterback Teagan Shevlin (6 of 9, 98 yards, interception; rushing TD) completed some big passes in the Spartans’ two scoring drives in the first half.
“Teagan has really grown this season,” Teicheira said. “He has done a great job of rising to the challenge. I think the future is bright for him if he continues to grow.”
Herrera led Los Banos with 126 yards and two touchdowns to Welch (seven receptions, 120 yards) on 9-of-12 passing. He was also the Tigers’ leading rusher with 54 yards and a TD on 14 carries, the last two of which went for a total of 12 yards lost on the clock-running kneel downs.
Los Banos was held to just 74 yards in the second half, but penalties and big plays against Lathrop made up for any of the Tigers’ struggles.
Lathrop was on its way to capping its tone-setting opening drive with score, setting up on the Los Banos 4-yard line on second-and-goal. Two false-start penalties halted the momentum, and the Spartans turned it over on downs in the red zone.
In the third quarter, Lathrop missed on a chance to take the lead after Kameron Jones’ 79-yard touchdown run was called back by a holding penalty. Two plays later, Los Banos picked off a pass from Shevlin.
On its next series, Lathrop was hampered by a delay-of-game penalty and burned two timeouts for fear of not getting the snap off in time to beat the play clock.
“Just a couple mental mistakes,” Teicheira said. “They’re young men, and when they get excited things happen. We’d love to have those back. Just wrong time for them to happen. Myself, I let the clock run a couple of times when trying to get plays in and I have to own that as the coach. That set us back and put us out of field positions.
“Those are the ones that sting. That’s not playing football, that’s just mental mistakes.”
Defensively, the Spartans came up with a few big stops but were also burned in key situations. For example, they gave up a 17-yard catch to Welch on a fourth-and-15 play, then a 9-yard touchdown to Welch on fourth-and-goal during the same drive. That pushed the Tigers ahead 14-7 midway through eh second period.
