There was no slowing down Pablo Peña, Trey Santos and the rest of the Spartans on Friday, as Lathrop opened its 2025 football season with a convincing 43-16 win at Mountain House.
Winners of three straight in the Old River Rivalry, Lathrop now leads the all-time series, 4-3.
“Mountain House is athletic and has some speed that was tough to contain, at times,” Lathrop coach Ryan Teicheira said. “It was good to see our boys play hard and get their first win of the season.”
Mountain House, coming off a winless season, traded blows with the Western Athletic Conference champions at the outset and led 16-13 with 3:21 left in the second quarter.
Lathrop answered with Landen Nolte’s 25-yard touchdown pass to Santos in the final minute of the half, and it was one-sided from there.
The Spartans scored on every possession thanks to their dominant offensive line. Defense and special teams also played big roles.
Santos scored touchdowns in three different ways, including a 78-yard return. He finished with 87 yards rushing with a touchdown on just seven carries, adding 27 more yards on two catches.
Peña pounded the Mustangs for 131 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries. He also converted on three two-point tries. Defensively, he amassed 15 tackles, one for a loss and a sack.
Sophomore Jayden White contributed six rushes for 53 yards and a TD. Lathrop ended up with 10 different ball carriers who combined for 359 rushing yards, 7.5 per carry. Nolte completed all three of his pass attempts for 37 yards.
Enochs 61, Sierra 55
Turnovers were the difference in this back-and-forth barnburner in Modesto.
Enochs took a 33-27 lead into halftime after scoring on the 70-yard interception return, then doubled the gap early in the second half. The Eagles recovered a fumble deep inside Sierra territory and capitalized with Anthony Brown’s 12-yard touchdown reception.
Enochs was able to keep the Timberwolves at arm’s length the rest of the way. Sierra finished with four giveaways.
Sophomore quarterback Jaysen Martinez was productive in his varsity debut, throwing for 221 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 60 yards and two scores. Second-year sophomore Darien East tallied 214 yards and three TDs on 35 carries. He also caught four passes for 57 yards.
Receiver Anthony Chapman contributed five receptions for 115 yards and one touchdown. Ryan Reyes chipped in two touchdowns, one rushing and one receiving, He racked up 93 yards from scrimmage.
Waterford 33, River Islands 6
River Islands’ lone score came on a 3-yard quarterback keeper from Daryl Carpenter late in the second quarter, and the Riptide went into halftime down 12-6 at Waterford.
The Wildcats recovered an onside kick to start the second half and rode the momentum for the rest of the game.
Carpenter competed 11 of 24 passes for 171 yards in his varsity debut. George Dayeh was on the receiving of six of those passes for 115 yards.
Waterford had its way offensively, rushing for 217 yards and three touchdowns on 42 carries. Quarterback Damien Tellez was 10-of-17 passing with 64 yards and two TDs.
“Everything that we have is fixable, we just need to work on execution,” River Islands coach Nick Hardenbrook said.
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Summerville 3, East Union 1
The Lancers dropped a competitive season opener on the road Friday, 19-25, 26-24, 21-25, 21-25.
Lilyan Frye (three aces) and Kendall Blackwell led the attack with five kills apiece, and setter Lily Grove had 11 assists and two service aces.
Elle Baluyut added eight digs and three aces. Isabella Martinez Lopez registered four blocks.
CROSS COUNTRY
Flame Invitational
Ripon’s varsity boys placed third out of 13 teams in the season-opening meet at Lodi Lake. Ripon Christian came in 12th.
Sophomore Lucas de Vera paced the Indians with a time of 17 minutes, 54.70 seconds, good for 10th place. Moses Gomez (12th, 18:01.16) and Miguel Acosta-Pearson (17th, 18:12.90) also finished in the top 20.
There were no full squads from the area in the varsity girls race, but Ripon sophomore Sophia Jung shined individually with a sixth-place finish in 22:05.66. East Union’s Alysia Sinclair took 10th in 22:16.53.
In the lower levels, Manteca’s Paisley Coenenberg took the JV girls title in 13:35.28. Ripon teammates Paige Thomas and Ashourina Gonzalez were fourth and fifth, respectively.
Darren Diaz of Ripon led local JV boys runners with a runner-up finish in 11:31.24. Manteca’s Eliyas Reyes took fourth.
Ripon Christian’s Hans Schoolland was the area’s top sophomore boys runner with an eighth-place finish in 11:59.72. Fellow Knight Elizabeth Rich was sixth (15:05.18) in freshman girls. Elijah Galvan represented East Union in freshman boys, taking second in 11:12.54.
JV volleyball
Summerville 2, East Union 0
East Union came up short, 19-25, 21-25.
Emily Pires produced four kills, four aces and three digs. Camille Christensen anchored the front row with five kills and two blocks. Gianna Valdez handed out eight assists, and Lola Alvarez had eight digs.
The freshman team won, 26-24, 19-25, 15-11.
