The Lathrop Spartans suffered just their second Western Athletic Conference loss of the season Wednesday night in the form of a 26-20 overtime thriller at the hands of the Ceres Bulldogs at Paul Wiggin Stadium.
The loss brings the Spartans (8-2, 13-3) level atop the league standings with Ceres (8-2, 12-7). The Bulldogs moved to 2-0 on the year against Lathrop, having dealt their hosts the first league blemish back on Sept. 16.
“That’s a really good team we played here tonight,” Lathrop coach Randy Baltazar said. “We started really well offensively, and then things got stagnant for us in the second half. It only takes a few plays to flip momentum, and before you know it, your lead is gone.”
Lathrop led 14-0 midway through the second quarter behind a strong running attack that saw six ball carriers combine for 110 yards of rushing. On both scoring drives, the running game set up the passing attack, as senior quarterback Luz De Luna was able to find receivers for touchdowns.
The first touchdown pass came from 5 yards out to Moira Ramones on the opening drive of the game.
After a few big stops by the Spartan defense, De Luna then found Tianna Gonzalez also from 5 yards out to go up two scores.
The defense of Lathrop was able to hold Ceres in check for most of the first half behind strong play at the line of scrimmage by Angie Gonzalez alongside De Luna. Ceres finally managed to break through with just 32 seconds left in the first half, however, as quarterback Presley Vierra (209 yards passing) found receiver Sovannary Carter (eight catches, 92 yards) for their first of three scoring connections on the evening to make it 14-6 before the intermission.
“You started to see the momentum change there at the end of the first half,” Baltazar said. “They started making some plays, and it continued into the rest of the game.”
Both defenses dominated the majority of the third quarter. After an interception from linebacker Dayanna Martinez gave the Spartans the ball at midfield, JaLeiyah Ray would find the end zone on the ground from 15 yards out to put the Spartans back up by two scores, 20-6 with just 21 seconds to go in the quarter.
Unfortunately for Ray and the Spartans, the Ceres offense came alive in the fourth quarter. Vierra found Carter for the second time to cut the lead back to one score with six minutes to go in the game.
The running attack that had helped Lathrop control the clock and the ball in the first half was unable to sustain drives late. Forced to punt from their own 10yard line with just 41 seconds left in the game, the Spartans defense needed to find just one more stop to secure the victory.
Vierra had other plans, as she evaded Lathrop defenders on the run before finding receiver Jadasa Haro (three catches, 41 yards) for a touchdown from 5 yards out on a ricochet pass that was tipped by a Lathrop defender to tie the game 20-20. Morgan Hegler, who made big plays for the Spartans on defense all game long, broke up the ensuing point after attempt to take the game to overtime, 20-20.
Ceres possessed the ball first in the overtime period. On third down, Vierra found Carter for the third and final time from 17 yards out to put the visitors up, 26-20.
After stopping the point after attempt, De Luna and the Spartans got the ball back down six, knowing a touchdown and a point after conversion would secure the win. A victory was not to be on this night for Lathrop, as De Luna’s pass on first down was intercepted by Gabriella Ortiz to seal the game for the Bulldogs.
For Baltazar, a tough loss represents a chance at a teaching moment for a team that still has big postseason aspirations.
“Our focus remains that blue banner,” he said. “Obviously, this loss puts us tied at the top of league, which we want to win, but we remain focused on the ultimate goal, and that is to play well in the postseason and bring home a (Sac-Joaquin) section championship. We’ll use tonight as motivation to get better, and I am confident we will finish league playing well.”
Four WAC games remain on the schedule for the Spartans, the first two coming at home next week against Johansen on Monday, and Livingston on Wednesday.
