Lathrop struggled to get its offense untracked in the first half of its Sac-Joaquin Section Division III quarterfinal against visiting Fairfield on Halloween night.

The fourth-seeded Spartans (20-3) ended up prevailing 27-20 thanks to some last-minute heroics from Allen, who only had two touches in the first 40 minutes of the game.

Three big plays from Jaleiyah Ray lifted the Spartans to a 14-12 halftime lead, but coach Randy Baltazar knew adjustments had to be made.

Meanwhile, Allen was held to minus 2 yards on her only catch in the first half but was still testing Fairfield’s aggressive man-to-man defense.

“Jaleiyah was carrying, so I had to try some new stuff on whoever was defending me,” Allen said after the game. “I just tried to jab at her and she was biting on it, so I knew what to do.”

Baltazar took notice.

“We said, ‘Playmakers are going to win this,’” he said. “We saw that (Allen) was getting a step or two (behind the defense). Credit to Fairfield, they put the rush on (quarterback) Luz (DeLuna), and Luz said, ‘Just give me an extra second.’

“We had to hold our center to block, and from there Luz backed up a yard and threw it up to Faith. We tried to get the ball to her more on drags and underneath routes.”

Allen got the ball on Lathrop’s first play of the second half, taking a hand-off and running it 6 yards. She would not get another touch until the Spartans’ final two drives, and it was then that she left her mark in the game.

Allen jump started her team with a with a difficult 28-yard catch up the middle, leaping vertically above a defender to bring it down. Additional yardage was tacked, as she drew an illegal-contact penalty.

Then, on fourth-and-goal, Allen made another tough grab for a 19-yard touchdown that extended Lathrop’s lead to 20-12 with 3:15 remaining. De Luna spotted spotted Allen deep down the right sideline in man coverage and launched it toward the front pylon. The sophomore receiver adjusted to the ball and caught it over the shoulder with outstretched arms, holding onto it as she stumbled forward into the end zone.

“I just knew I had to get it,” Allen said. “Gotta get those points on the board.”

Fifth-seeded Fairfield (20-5) did not go away quietly, tying it with Aubrey Stewart’s 19-yard touchdown pass to Sariah Williams and the ensuing 2-point try with Katie Shaw with 22 seconds to go.

Allen countered with the knockout blow on the next play.

With no timeouts remaining, Lathrop wanted to end the game in regulation. De Luna was instructed to look deep but check it down to Allen underneath if the Falcons commit to defending the long ball.

De Luna was able to get the short pass off with a rusher barreling toward her, hitting Allen in stride. Allen turned upfield and used her speed to evade defenders and score the game-winner with 6 seconds to go.

Allen finished with six catches for 111 yards and two touchdowns, most of it coming on those final two drives.

Ray, the team’s spark plug in the first half, was happy for Allen to take over in the second half.

“Every team needs to have somebody that does their own thing in different ways to contribute to the team,” Ray said. “It’s a team effort.”

Lathrop will now face top-seeded Livingston on the road Wednesday. Livingston (27-0) has already beaten the Spartans twice en route to earning the Western Athletic Conference title and is the sixth-ranked team in the SJS, according to MaxPreps.