MODESTO — Lathrop picked up its fourth consecutive Western Athletic Conference victory Friday night, knocking off Grace Davis 29-19 in a game played at Chuck Hughes Stadium on the campus of Thomas Downey High.

“I was really happy with not only the victory, but how we won tonight,” Lathrop head coach Justin Muschott said. “We played the game the right way, kept our composure and controlled the clock, which is what Lathrop football is all about.”

The victory moves Lathrop (4-1, 5-3) back atop the WAC standings in a three-way tie with Johansen, which lost to Central Valley in Ceres on Friday to make things interesting down the stretch with two regular-season games left to play. Lathrop dropped its conference opener to Johansen and held on to beat CV last week.

“Obviously, with what happened in Ceres tonight, this one is even bigger,” Muschott said. “This team deserves to play for a league title after the way we’ve turned things around in the last month.”

His Spartans offense looked every bit of the dynamic unit that had averaged 34 points per game in the last three league games early on.

The Lathrop offensive line anchored by center Beau Grisham opened huge holes for a trio of Spartan running backs that would all run for at least 70 yards in the contest. After Roman Duvernay (18 carries, 92 yards) and Jaylen Santos (16 carries, 74 yards) gashed Grace Davis (3-2, 4-4) up the middle, Lathrop hit the host with a counter to Ekam Sohal (five carries, 70 yards) that went 34 yards to the house to put Lathrop up 6-0 less than two minutes into the game.

“Some of the holes we were running into tonight were huge,” Sohal said. “Credit to our guys up front, they were moving people around and making it easy on us. We know these games are won in the trenches, which is why we feel so good going into these battles behind our guys.”

Lathrop controlled possession of the ball and the clock throughout the first half due in large part to its defense getting quarterback Caleb Zaragoza and the rest of the Davis attack off the field in short order. The tone was set early when on the third play from scrimmage for Davis Samari Sumpter put a huge hit on the quarterback forcing a fumble that was recovered by Jonah Hernandez giving Lathrop a short field deep in Davis territory. The sack was the first of five on the night for Lathrop. Edge rusher Joshua Talalele recorded two of his own to go with a pass deflection that led to an interception later in the half.

“We were flying around out there,” Talalele said. “We said it all week we needed to contain their athletes and put pressure on the quarterback. We gave up some plays later on but it felt good to help the team get out to that big lead.”

The lead would grow for Lathrop four plays later when quarterback DJ Reyno scrambled for an 18-yard touchdown run to put the Lathrop Spartans up 14-0 late in the first quarter. The touchdown run was the first of two on the night for the junior Reyno.

“DJ is just so solid,” Muschott said. “He’s a really tough kid and manages the game for us so well. When he drops back, we feel confident he’s going to make the right read, and if its not there, you saw what he can do with his legs.”

A Santos plunge from two yards out sent Lathrop into the break up 21-0.

Zaragoza and Grace Davis battled back in the second half to make things interesting. A 51-yard run after dropping back to pass put Davis on the board at 21-7. Early in the fourth quarter Zaragoza would find Isaiah Hasley from 16 yards out to cut the lead to 21-12 Lathrop after a failed two-point conversion attempt.

With all of the momentum on the side of Davis, Reyno went to work on offense.

What ensued was a nine-play, 53- yard drive that took nearly six minutes off the clock capped by another Reyno touchdown run from 13 yards out to make it 29-12 with under five minutes to play. While the touchdown was made with the legs of Reyno, the biggest play of the drive came when Muschott asked him to pass on third down and eleven. Reyno stepped up in the pocket and fired a strike to wide receiver Damian Hermosillo to pick up 21 yards and a key first down to extend the drive.

“We don’t pass a ton in our offense, but I look forward to those times I can make plays like that,” Reyno said. “Credit to our O-line, they gave me a good pocket to sit in, and Damian made a great play on the ball.”

The lone cloud over the evening for Lathrop came earlier in that game clinching drive when Santos went down with what looked to be a wrist injury. He’d leave the game and not return.

“Obviously, we hope Jaylen is OK and he’s back with us next week,” Muschott said. “But if he is not. we have guys champing at the bit to get out there, and I’m confident they can fill in until we can get him back.”

It’ll be all-hands-on-deck for Lathrop heading into games against Ceres at home and Beyer on the road the final week of the season. Two wins would guarantee the Spartans a share of the league title and a likely trip to the Sac Joaquin Section Division V Playoffs.

“We’re going to focus on playing our game and limiting the mistakes,” Reyno said. “There are things from tonight we’ll clean up and hopefully play even better from here on out.”