LATHROP – Statistically, it might have been Devin Nunez’s worst performance under center for Sierra.

The senior triggerman completed just five of his 12 passes and lacked the touch he’d shown through the first five games.

Oh, well. Nunez can blame it on the late start.

For the first eight minutes of Friday’s 37-7 victory at Lathrop High, the Timberwolves took their cues from another.

Backup quarterback Marcos Castillo, a versatile and talented sophomore, received  the surprise start and led an early onslaught.

The Timberwolves (3-0, 6-0) rushed for 175 yards in the first quarter alone, outscoring Lathrop 21-0 to set the rout in motion. The game finished with a running clock for the fifth time this season – a testament, head coach Jeff Harbison said, to his team’s performance in all facets of the game.

And its depth.

Four different players found the end zone for Sierra, including Castillo, yet another blossoming young weapon in Sierra’s spread offense.

Castillo netted most of his 81 rushing yards in the first quarter. He initiated the scoring with a 30-yard touchdown run on Sierra’s opening drive and later tacked on a 31-yard field goal to make it 31-0 at the intermission.

Lined up in the shotgun, with a 1,000-yard running back at his side, Castillo’s unpredictability and explosiveness from the quarterback position had the Spartans (1-2, 2-4) baffled.

Would he keep it? Or feed the touchdown machine, Mark Paule Jr.? Castillo let the defense decide, reading the rush and his blocks.

“We wanted to do something different and change it up,” Castillo said. “We succeeded in that. It was the first week we came out with it and our line did awesome. As we ran the ball, we gained more and more yards.”

That’s putting it mildly.

Sierra outgained Lathrop 323-44 in the opening half, including 186 to minus-5 on the ground.

Paule finished with 116 yards and two touchdowns, showcasing the balance and elusiveness that have become his hallmarks.

While it looked like a Wildcat formation, one made famous by the Miami Dolphins’ Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown a few years back, head coach Jeff Harbison set the record straight afterwards.

“That’s not a Wildcat. Marcos is our No. 2 quarterback,” he said. “We saw some things we thought we could exploit, so we went with Marcos and Marcos did a great job.”

There isn’t a quarterback controversy brewing in the week leading up to a showdown with Oakdale, the most decorated Valley Oak League program in the new millennium.

Nunez will remain Sierra’s starting quarterback.

Friday simply proved that these talented Timberwolves are even better than many already believed.

“If you saw any games last year, Marcos was a tremendous running back at the freshman level,” Harbison said. “We have a lot of faith in him. He showed us in camp this year what he can do.

“At camp we actually went against Lathrop and we had Marcos at quarterback. He had the same kind of summer as he did tonight.”

Standing near his own 30-yard line, Wichman consoled his team and asked them to study these Timberwolves. They’re the class of the VOL right now, the second-year coach said.

“That’s the top team in the VOL right now and we realized that after the first half of play,” Wichman said. “They’re explosive on offense and multi-faceted. They run the ball well, throw the ball well and they have really good players in key positions … and they play hard-nosed defense.”

The Spartans had been no stranger to early deficits. They rallied back from a 14-0 hole against Manteca last week, only to lose on a blocked field goal in the waning moments.

This time, though, there was no getting up off of the canvas.

Sierra showed no mercy, building a 37-0 lead.

Nick Lucchetti helped pad the lead. The quick-as-a-dart wideout made it 14-0 with a 19-yard sweep.

The Timberwolves showed the same look in the second quarter, handing the ball off to Lucchetti. Instead of turning the corner, he stopped short of the line of scrimmage and flipped a pass to wide open Chris Stevens in the seam.

Stevens clutched ball and completed the 53-yard touchdown pass.

Lathrop was out of sorts from the beginning.

Standout Hawaii Leafa Teo had to be helped off the field following Sierra’s first touchdown. Leafa Teo suffered what appeared to be a shoulder injury.

He’d eventually return, but it wouldn’t matter. By game’s end, the Spartans had four others on the bench, either writhing in pain or wrapped in ice and bandage.

Quarterback Diego Chavez engineered the Spartans’ only scoring drive with his feet. Chavez rushed for 53 yards on Lathrop’s final possession, including a 39-yard keeper on fourth-and-1, and then zipped an 8-yard touchdown pass to Felix Rodriguez.

Lathrop travels to East Union on Friday, while front-running Sierra will host Oakdale.

The Mustangs take on Manteca today at Levi’s Stadium, the billion-dollar home of the San Francisco 49ers.

“This is where we expected to be,” Harbison said, “playing for something late in the season.”