LODI — It was a tough way to open zero week for Lathrop High.

The Spartans showed promise early on only to see their hopes fizzle in the end at the home of Tokay High of the Tri-City Athletic League.

Lathrop stumbled in the non-league affair, 25-14.

"We put together a great first half," said first-year head coach Ryan Teicheira after his team scored two quick touchdowns while playing hard-nosed defense to keep the Tigers off the scoreboard during that span.

Aaron Ramones wasted little time in getting this new chapter of Spartans football going. The senior returner took the opening kick 90 yards to the end zone.

Teicheira called it one of the highlights of the game. He also praised his defense led by senior lineman Harold Gray, who along with Gian Albano, delivered on fourth-down stops.

Lathrop (0-1) also snuffed out a drive shortly before the half, stopping the Tigers a few yards shy of the goal line.

"Our defense came out fired up," he said.

The other score by the Spartans occurred at the 3:19 mark of the first quarter.

They put together a 10-play, 58-yard drive capped by Ramones' 3-yard touchdown run. Ramones also reeled in Luis Hernandez's two-point conversion pass to give his team a 14-0 lead.

Tokay (1-0) caught a break with Isaac Delgado hauling in a pass on a spectacular play that deflected off a Spartan defender early in the third. 

Ellias Castro finally broke through, scoring on a short run. Xavion Moreno booted the extra point to cut the Lathrop lead in half, 14-7.

The game slipped away from the Spartans late in the fourth.

Junior Dru Melgoza along with senior quarterback Branden Moreno and sophomore running back Barrett Crosby helped Tokay down that stretch run consisting of 18 unanswered points including twice in the final minute.

The Tigers, in making matters worse, recovered after Melgoza's second touchdown in the closing minute of the game.

Teicheira was none too thrilled about penalties by his team in that second half. Still, he called those "fixable" mistakes.

"There were a lot of highs and lows for us," Teicheira said of the emotional wave that his team rode on during the course of the game.

He's looking for his team to continue building on the events of zero week.

Tokay rolled in the junior varsity game, winning 37-0.

SCORING SUMMARY

Lathrop    14   0   0   0 — 14

Tokay    0    0   7   18 — 25

FIRST QUARTER

L — Aaron Ramones 90 kick-off return (run failed), 11:42

L — Ramones 3 run (Ramones pass from Luis Hernandez), 3:19

THIRD QUARTER

T—Ellias Castro 5 run (Xavion Moreno kick), 5:35

FOURTH QUARTER

T — Andru Melgoza 5 run (run failed), 4:09

T—Melgoza 34 pass from Brandon Moreno (kick failed), :58

T—Melgoza 34 run (kick blocked), 30.1