The Lathrop High Spartans are in control of their destiny.
They maintained their first-place hold in the Western Athletic Conference with a 61-27 over Livingston Friday at Bennie Gatto Field.
Treydon Santos had a big game for Lathrop (5-0, 7-1). He scored five touchdowns, including three in the fourth quarter to discourage any comeback hopes for the Wolves (3-2, 3-5).
"He was all over the field," said Spartans coach Ryan Teicheira of his multifaceted senior.
Santos' first TD was an open lane on the far sideline that covered 52 yards.
He delivered on a 33-yard dash to close out the first quarter, giving his team a 21-7 lead.
In between that was teammate Pablo Pena's 1-yard run and Livingston quarterback Roberto Rivera warming up with a 58-yard scoring run on the veer option.
Shortly before the intermission, Humza Habibi chipped in with a 22-yard TD run to give the Spartans a 28-7 advantage.
Teicheira was aware that Livingston had plenty of fight left.
"They're a good team," he said.
The Wolves countered on the first play of the second half, with Rivera racing 56 yards to trim the deficit, 28-14.
Lathrop answered back with a near 5 minute drive capped off by Pena's 4-yard run.
Livingston put together a strong run, starting with an option touchdown pass from Christian Partida to Mathias Valencia, who leaked out and was all alone on the 66-yard play.
The Wolves recovered a fumble and cashed in on the turnover. Rivera's 36- yard score suddenly made it 35-27.
The Spartans battled back behind Habibi, who also had a big game with 166 yards on 11 carries, got a chunk of that on 59-yard gain that setup Pena, who scored three times — he delivered with 115 yards on 15 pops —powered his way to the end zone with his 4-yard run.
The fourth quarter belonged to Santos, who returned a punt 66 yards for a score.
Following Dasani Brown's onside kick return, Lathrop was back in business. Santos, this time, hauled in a fourth-down TD pass from sophomore quarterback Daryion Reyno.
Santos, who already had 172 yards on 13 tries, was situated nicely when he caught Maddox Ramos' lateral pass, sprinting 59 yards to close out the high-scoring affair.
The Spartans will host Central Valley in next week's regular season finale for all the marbles, Teicheira said.
SCORING SUMMARY
Livingston 7 0 20 0 — 27
Lathrop 21 7 13 20 — 61
First quarter
La — Treydon Santos 52 run (Humza Habibi kick), 9:47.
La — Pablo Pena 1 run (Habibi kick), 4:48.
La — Roberto Rivera 58 run (Alexcito Avila kick), 3:54.
La — Santos 33 run (Habibi kick), 0:00.
Second quarter
La — Habibi 27 run (Habibi kick), :22.
Third quarter
Li — Rivera 56 run (Avila kick), 11:47.
La — Pena 4 run (Habibi kick), 6:38.
Li — Mathias Valencia 66 pass from Christian Partida (Avila kick), 4:22.
Li — Rivera 36 run (kick blocked), 3:11.
La — Pena 4 run (pass failed), 0:01.
Fourth quarter
La — Santos 66 punt return (Habibi kick), 9:58.
La — Santos 29 pass from Daryion Reyno (kick failed), 8:44.
La — Santos 53 lateral from Maddox Ramos, pass from Reyno (Habibi kick), 3:49.
