Lathrop High continue to hold on to the top spot in the Western Athletic Conference.

The Spartans (3-0, 5-1) did so Friday by taking care of Ceres (1-2, 3-3) at Bennie Gatto Field, 34-14.

Leading the way was junior running back Pablo Pena, who rushed for four touchdowns.

"He's a hammer and a bruiser on both offense and defense," said Lathrop coach Ryan Teicheira of Pena's standout effort.

Defense was solid for the Spartans on this warm evening.

"We looked at the keys (to containing Ceres), and our guys stuck with the game plan," Teicheira said.

This included pressuring the passing game behind Bulldogs’ senior quarterback Kyle Phongsa Chhoeum, who came in with the hot hand.

While he did throw for one score — a 27-yard toss to Reis Smith in the second quarter — Chhoeum spent most of the evening trying to avoid the Spartans' pass rush led by Casyn Hopping, who had a sack.

Jose Rodriguez came up with an interception.

Lathrop, as usual, grinded out the yardage behind Pena and Chris Ramos doing most of the damage on the ground — the duo combined for over 100 yards in the first half.

The Spartans scored on their first two possessions, going 62 yards on 10 plays capped by Pena's touchdown from a yard out.

Lathrop's next drive again resulted in a Pena TD. This time he delivered on a 7-yard run.

The Spartans showed off a bit of their passing game. Quarterback Jordan Blase found Treydon Santos on a 19-yard TD, upping the lead, 21-7.

Lathrop's special teams came through early in the third quarter as Michael Adams and Hopping combined to tackle the Bulldog punter at his own 13 yard line.

A few plays later, Pena scored touchdown No. 3.

Ceres tacked on a TD in the fourth quarter, with Parker Borges taking over as the signal caller and hitting Tremod Karriem from the 4.

As for Pena, he scored his fourth touchdown on a 19-yard run to finish off his big day.