LOS BANOS — David Herrera ended his masterful performance with two kneel-downs Friday at Loftin Stadium, and Los Banos celebrated another victory over Lathrop and another Western Athletic Conference championship.

It was the only time the Tigers’ electric quarterback lost yardage in the 37-20 win. He completed eight of 11 passes for 197 yards and two touchdowns while rushing 16 times for 150 yards and three more scores.

“We had a lot of missed tackles, but Herrera is a great running quarterback,” Lathrop coach Ryan Teicheira said. “They hurt us with deep balls earlier, but ultimately they have a good outside of inside-outside, read-and-pull type stuff. For the most part, I think our defensive front played well, we just have to finish tackles.”

His Spartans (5-1 WAC, 6-3 overall) had a program-best six-game winning streak snapped and fell to 0-6 all-time to Los Banos (6-0, 8-1), which is not yet in the clear for an outright title with rival Pacheco coming up. Lathrop will need some help to have a shot at grabbing at least a share of the championship, but it’s more focused on preparing for another tough road assignment in Mountain House.

Lathrop is likely to have a good enough MaxPreps rating to qualify for the playoffs regardless of the outcome, but the Spartans fell short of a bid despite winning six games the last two years.

“Our season’s not over,” Teicheira said. “They’re (Los Banos) a good football team, and they got the better end of the stick today. We have Mountain House next week, and we have to get back to the drawing board. We have to move on. This is a playoff-type game, and this is what we’re going to be seeing for the next few weeks.”

Lathrop trailed 16-0 for a second straight week, but it could not overcome missed opportunities and the big-play ability of Herrera.

Wingback Andre Muqhar (eight rushes, 41 yards) twice provided a needed spark, but Los Banos was able to answer. He blew past and through defenders on a 24-yard touchdown run that closed the Spartans in 16-8 with 1:16 left in the first half. Two plays later, Herrera spotted Yahir Zuniga for a 61-yard touchdown pass, and the Tigers rolled into halftime ahead, 23-8.

Muqhar struck again early in the fourth quarter, this time on a 70-yard catch-and-run that made it, 30-20. Pablo Pena, who set up the drive with a fumble recovery, was stopped short of the goal line on the two-point conversion.

Los Banos responded with a 10-play drive that milked 6 minutes off the clock, as Herrera iced it with a 4-yard scamper.

Lathrop could not string together enough positive plays to capture the momentum. The Spartans started the second half with a well-executed onside kick recovered by Jimari Dove on Los Banos 35-yard line, but they could not take advantage of the short field. They got down to the 19 after a 9-yard run from Muqhar, who had his facemask grabbed by Los Banos cornerback Adam Aguilar.

The non-call wound up hurting Lathrop, which went from third-and-1 to third-and-long after getting flagged for a chop block. The drive stalled out, and Los Banos marched the other way and pushed its lead to 30-8 on Herrera’s 33-yard dash.

“It stings when you get penalties, you get set back and you can’t finish drives,” Teicheira said. “That was off tonight. This is the first time that we haven’t been able to capitalize when we’ve been given a chance like that. Maybe it’s me needing to make better calls to put us in a better situation. Any other week, I’m not worried about my boys not capitalizing on opportunities. It was just a bad night.”

Lathrop was able to move the ball after its slow start, finishing with 364 yards. Jordan Blase was 5-of-11 passing for 197 yards and two interceptions. Julio Garcia (11 rushes, 59 yards), Dove (6-87) and Pena (14-72) produced in the run game.

Joel Alvarenga compiled 108 yards on 19 carries for Los Banos.