The first two plays from scrimmage were signs of things to come for Peña and the rest of the Spartans (10-1) last Friday at Bennie Gatto Field, where they thumped sixth-seeded Hilmar 35-14 in a Sac-Joaquin Section Division V quarterfinal.

Peña nearly broke big runs on those plays but could not get past the last man in defense, settling for 10- and 15-yard gains.

He’d get another shot on the next drive. Facing a fourth-and-3, near midfield, the 6-foot, 215-pound fullback took the handoff from Jordan Blase, followed backfield mates Sean Teu and Chris Ramos to the line of scrimmage, busted through an arm tackle and was off to the races. Peña’s 53-yard touchdown run gave Lathrop a 14-0 lead.

“I’ve been laughing with Pablo about busting one, but he had a few runs of more than 10 yards tonight,” Lathrop coach Ryan Teicheira said. “He usually gets the hard yards, so to see him break one in the open field and go the distance, as a coach, I love seeing it. He’s such a hard worker and is a leader for us, and he does it both ways.”

Peña had seven runs go for 10-plus yards, six of them in the first half. He had another fourth-down conversion in the first quarter on a 16-yard gain. Ramos scored on a 25-yard scamper on the next play.

Peña’s 4-yard run midway through the fourth quarter widened the Spartans’ lead to 27-0.

Lathrop’s Wing-T offense typically spreads the carries, but on Friday the production mainly came from two players who had season-high totals. Peña finished with 189 yards, while Ramos added 129 yards. Each had 21 rushes.

“I want to give all props to my linemen, because I obviously would not have all the yards without them,” Peña said, also giving a nod to physical wingback Teu. “They opened up holes all night.”

Peña also anchors the defensive front at middle linebacker. He compiled eight tackles, four solo, and broke up a pass. The Spartans held Hilmar (5-7) to just 154 yards, much of it coming on Caden Bailey’s 64-yard touchdown run on fourth down. The Yellowjackets’ other touchdown was a pick-six at the end of the first half.

“In the first half, we played good defense until we let up on that one touchdown — that was a mistake,” Peña said. “We bounced back and started refocusing on our keys and read everything perfectly.”

No. 3 Lathrop is in the semifinal round for the first time in school history. The Spartans take on No. 2 Sutter (10-1) this Friday at Yuba College.