LATHROP — In the Battle for the Paddle on Saturday, Mountain House snuck into the end zone with 14 seconds left in second quarter and rode that momentum into the second half, tallying 22 unanswered points on the way to a 22-15 Western Athletic Conference win over Lathrop at Bennie Gatto Field.
“It happened perfect for us and that gave us a momentum swing,” first-year Mountain House coach Jabari Carr said of that second-quarter score. “We needed that to light a fire under us.”
Up until Brijon Leslie-Fitzpatrick (110 yards, 12 carries, three touchdowns) got the Mustangs (1-0 WAC) on the board late in the first half, the Spartans (0-1) had dominated the game. Not only did Mountain House start to turn the tables on that play, at that point Lathrop continued a game of injury-induced musical chairs that did not end well for the Spartans.
“It definitely was a tale of two halves,” Lathrop coach Joe Pirillo said. “We got some injuries in that first half and the affected our second half. Andrew Garcia went down on that touchdown and that hurt us at linebacker and running back, especially after losing Isaac Ramos for the game earlier in the week. It’s tough when you have to pull your starting receiver and make him the third-string running back.
“They stayed on offense pretty much the second half wasting the clock away. I still think we played OK — it wasn’t great, but in the first half we were on it. We were the team that was in charge and we were disciplined. When we got to the second half it just felt like we were very disciplined.”
The Spartans had run just 10 second-half offensive plays by midway through the fourth period and totaled just 15 on the half to 38 for Mountain House. The Spartans finished with 44 offensive plays to 66 for the Mustangs.
“We made some adjustments at halftime,” Carr said. “Jordan Stinson and Alex Miller are seniors and they contributed in that second half. Our seniors have had a lot taken from them and I want our seniors go out with a bang this year.
“I’m proud of our guys. This rivalry means a lot to our community and we wanted it bad.”
Before leaving the game with an injury, Andrew Garcia ground out 60 yards on 13 carries for Lathrop. Joey Sanchis (three receptions, 50 yards) scored on a 39-yard pass from Luis Hernandez and early in the second quarter Mark Ramones burst in from the 2-yard line to spot the Spartans to a 15-0 lead.
Eduardo Reynoso made a fumble recovery for Lathrop, Aaron Ramones added an interception and Harold Gary made a big fourth-down stop on the last play of the first quarter.
Josiah Pena was in on nine tackles for the Spartans. Sanchis, Josue Valle-Galvez and Kevin Paz added five each with Justin Tisdell and Reynoso making four each.
SCORING SUMMARY
Mountain House 0 8 7 7 — 22
Lathrop 7 8 0 0 — 15
First quarter
L — Joey Sanchis 39 pass from Luis Hernandez (Hailey Hunter kick), 1:10
Second quarter
L – Mark Ramones 2 run (Sanchis pass from Hernandez), 9:20
M – Brijon Leslie-Fitzpatrick 3 run (Roy Gardner run), :14
Third quarter
M — Leslie-Fitzpatrick 20 run (Isaiah Apostol kick), 9:11
Fourth quarter
M — Leslie-Fitzpatrick 18 run ( 7 Apostol kick), 6:53
