MODESTO — As the old saying goes, “a win is a win.”

The Lathrop Spartans picked up a huge Western Athletic Conference victory on the road Thursday night, 28-21, at Johansen to put them at the top of the standings with just three regular-season games to play.

“We knew coming into tonight it was going to be a tough test,” Lathrop head coach Ryan Teicheira said. “They did a ton of things good schematically on both sides of the ball that gave us trouble at times, but I’m just happy to get out of here with a win.”

The game started much like the previous three WAC contests for Lathrop (4-0 WAC, 6-1 overall). After winning the toss and electing to receive the ball, the Spartans went 75 yards in five plays capped off by a Pablo Peña run from 35 yards out to put the visitors up 7-0.

It would be the first two scores on the night for the senior fullback Peña, who finished with 169 yards on 25 carries.

After the opening possession for the Spartans, Johansen (3-1, 4-3) began to stack the box to stop the standout Peña. Teicheira and his offensive staff had answers however, getting the ball on the outside for scores from running backs Treydon Santos and Ekam Sohal to put Lathrop up 21-0 with just over a minute to go in the first half.

“They were keying on the dive with Pablo,” Spartans center Beau Grisham said. “Credit to the coaching staff, they dialed up some great plays, and we were able to open up some holes for our guys to run through.”

Johansen took over with 1:18 left in the second quarter having only completed one first down to that point. Something clicked offensively for the Vikings, as quarterback Anthony Torres (183 yards passing) led his team 65 yards in seven plays on a drive capped by a 14-yard touchdown pass to Jeydan Saing (8 catches, 83 yards) to make it 21-7 before the break.

The breakthrough for Johansen would be a sign of things to come in the second half.

The Vikings took the third quarter kickoff and immediately went on another seven play, 65 yard touchdown drive that also ended in a Saing score, this time on a run from seven yards out to make it a one score game. Momentum was officially on the hosts’ side.

An errant punt snap on fourth down in the ensuing possession for Lathrop led to a huge turnover and gave the ball to Johansen on the Lathrop 10-yard line. Two plays later Torres would find his other dynamic receiver Gabriel Ibanez from 16 yards out to tie the game at 21-21.

Lathrop, who cruised through the first almost two quarters of action, had officially seen its 21-point lead evaporate in just over five minutes of game time.

“I think you find out what your team is made of in situations like we were in tonight,” Teicheira said. “After seeing a lead go away like that, having things stack against you it creates an opportunity to dig deep and finish.”

With the offense sputtering after injuries to quarterback Landen Nolte (63 yards passing) and Peña, it was up to the defense to keep the Spartans in the game. Led by safeties Malachi Gonzales and Eliseo Lopez, the Lathrop defense came up big throughout the rest of the second half. An interception from Lopez stalled a third quarter drive flipping field position back towards the Spartans.

“We knew with the offense struggling we had to make plays,” Lopez said. “As a defense, we pride ourselves on keeping our team in the game. We knew they would get going, it was just a matter of time.”

With the game tied 21-21, a huge sack by sophomore linebacker Jayden White forced a punt from Johansen. The Spartans offensive line, who had lost a couple of starters to injury earlier in the game, opened holes for Peña and Santos, but it the key play on the drive was a fourth-and-7 conversion for 11 yards through the air to Santos from backup quarterback Daryion Reyno. The 15th play of the drive saw Peña find the end zone from 1 yard out to put Lathrop up 28-21 with just five minutes to play.

“We knew in that drive we needed to get the ball into the hands of our best players,” Teicheira said. “The offensive line was able to wear them down a bit there late too, and we were happy to come away with points, finally.”

A Gonzales stop on the next possession from Johansen forced a turnover on downs with 2:45 left in the game. Needing just two first downs to ice the game, the Spartans turned to Peña yet again. This time however, the Vikings defense would rise to the occasion, stopping the fullback on fourth and one with 52 seconds left to give the Vikings the ball at the Lathrop 44-yard line.

What would happen next could not be scripted by even the most creative of Hollywood writers.

Torres found Saing who got out of bounds at the 28-yard line with 27 seconds left. After an incomplete pass, the quarterback again found his favorite target Saing, who found space down the middle before being tackled at the Lathrop 4-yard line by the safety duo of Santos and Lopez. With the clock winding down, Johansen hurried to the line of scrimmage and snapped the ball. Instead of clocking the ball into the ground, Torres took a knee at the 5-yard line. Without a timeout left, the play ended the game and sealed the victory for Lathrop.

“I like the chances that our defense would have stopped them had they stopped the clock there for a final play,” Teicheira said. “But our guys made a great play on a bend-but-don’t-break type of sequence and helped us pull out a wild one.”

The Spartans will take their undefeated league record into a home match-up against Livingston next Friday night.