By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Bulletin Correspondent

 MARYSVILLE — The Lathrop Spartans fell just short of a bid in the Sac Joaquin Section Division V final Friday night in a hard fought 21-19 loss to the Sutter Union Huskies at Yuba College.

The expected rain that caused the game to be moved from Sutter’s home field to the turf at Yuba College showed up in full force, with much of the game being played in a driving downpour.

It wasn’t the rain, but the Spartans stout defense that slowed down the vaunted Wing-T of Sutter Friday night.

“This group played their butts off tonight,” said Lathrop coach Ryan Teicheira. “We asked a lot of guys to do a lot of things. Sutter is good, they came into the game scoring 46 points a game. I was really happy we were able to hold them to 21 points on the night.”

The Spartans, making their first Section semifinal appearance in program history, looked every bit the part in their opening possession of the ball game. After taking over on a short field due to a heads-up play by up back Trey Miller on the opening kick-off, Lathrop went 35 yards in seven plays on a touchdown drive capped by a tough 15-yard touchdown run by running back Pablo Peña to put the visitors up, 7-0.

“Pablo runs hard,” said Teicheira. “It’s hard to take him down. He’s a special guy I’ve said it all year. Its fun to watch him as a coach, and I am excited to see what he does in the future.”

Peña was thunder to senior running back Chris Ramos’ lightning on the night, with the two accounting for 143 of Lathrop’s 196 yards on the ground. Teicheira recognized the role Ramos played in the teams’ success running the ball.

“Chris Ramos is a small guy but packs a huge punch. He really stepped it up tonight and at the end of the season running the ball for us,” he said.

Sutter was able to do very little on the ground for much of the first half. Three total first-quarter yards left the Huskies scrambling to crack the Lathrop front, led by ball-hawking play by linebacker Michael Adams, and stout play from the defensive tackle position from senior Casyn Hopping.

Despite the success on both sides of the ball, Lathrop miscues from its special teams unit proved to be the difference on the night.

After missing a 29-yard field goal that would have put them up two scores in the first quarter, the Spartans started the second frame by snapping the ball over the head of the punter, giving the ball to their hosts at their own 22-yard line.

Two plays later, Sutter junior quarterback Braden Scritchfield kept a read option and scampered 28-yards for a touchdown to put the Huskies on the board midway through the second quarter.

Teicheira’s Spartans showed the resolve that they had all season long on the ensuing possession, chewing up five minutes of clock in an 80-yard touchdown drive, capped off by a 23-yard run on a well executed counter play by senior running back Sean Teu.

The impressive drive put the Spartans up 13-6 going into the break, just 24 minutes of game time from their first ever section championship berth.

Sutter’s answer came immediately to start the third quarter. Senior running back leading rusher Marcus Meras went 54 yards down the sideline for a touchdown just 2 minutes into the second half. Sutter head coach Ryan Reynolds seemed to recognize that points would be at a premium as the rain picked up. Sutter went for two and converted on a dive to fullback Losi Asiata to put the Huskies up, 14-13.

The answer that Teicheira’s Western Athletic Conference championship team had been able to muster up all season long was nowhere to be found on the ensuing possession.

After a quick three-and-out forced by a rejuvenated front seven of Sutter, Lathrop once again snapped the ball over their punter’s head, this time directly into the end zone where it was jumped on by the Huskies to make the score 21-13.

After another stalled drive by Lathrop, the elements gifted the Spartans an opportunity in the closing moments of the third quarter, as Scritchfield fumbled a center exchanged that was jumped on by Peña to swing momentum back to the visitors.

What ensued was an impressive 14-play, 66-yard drive that ended in a yet another touchdown run by Peña, this one from 5 yards out to cut the score to 21-19 with just over eight minutes to play. Peña spoke to his offensive line’s ability to open holes during that drive like they had all season.

“Those guys worked their butt off all summer long,” said the junior two-way star. “Playing behind them has been the most fun I have had playing football.”

In probably the biggest play of the game, the Spartans’ two-point try to tie the game was stopped, as Peña was tackled just short of the goal line.

Lathrop’s defense answered, as they did all night long, keeping the Spartans in the game by forcing a three-and-out from Sutter on the ensuing possession.

In what would be their best chance to take the lead, Lathrop took over on their own 40-yard line with 5:57 to play. A fourth down conversion by quarterback Jordan Blase on what looked like a broken play kept the drive alive, but Sutter’s defensive front came up big, forcing a fourth down stop on a run by Blase just four plays later.

Yet, another three-and-out forced by Lathrop led to a Huskies punt to the Spartan’s 25-yard line where they took over with 2:30 to play in the game.

The Wing-T attack that had found success for much of the night was unable to gain traction on the final drive. On fourth and four, Sutter successfully defended the counter play from Lathrop for the first time on the night, stopping ball carrier Andre Muqhar two yards short of a first down. The play sent the Huskies to the Division V final, and ending the season for Lathrop.

Despite the loss, Lathrop has emerged as a force to be reckoned with in both the WAC and the SJS Division V playoffs.

With the win, Sutter moves on to take on No. 1 seed Hughson for the Division V championship at Sacramento City College next Friday, Nov. 29.