PASCO -- Some ugliness reared its head between the Chiawana and Walla Walla coaching staffs on Friday night at Edgar Brown Stadium.
But in the end, the Riverhawks' 56-24 CBBN 4A victory was a thing of beauty.
Jordan Downing ran for 238 yards and two touchdowns, and quarterback Joey Zamora had his best night so far, completing 9 of 14 passes for 179 yards and four touchdowns to keep fifth-ranked Chiawana undefeated at 4-0 (2-0 in CBBN).
To get there, the Riverhawks had to fight off a talented Blue Devils squad with some star power of its own. But Walla Walla didn't have an answer for Downing.
"We've got some big guys up front, but it's also the receivers blocking upfield," said Downing, who also returned a third-quarter interception 22 yards for a touchdown.
But Zamora, a 6-foot-3 sophomore still growing into the position, looked more and more comfortable in the pocket as the night wore on. He connected for two touchdown passes with his cousin -- senior receiver Miquiyah Zamora -- and another to C.J. Edrington just before the end of the first half to make it 35-17.
One key moment for Zamora came after Walla Walla safety Gabe Porter jumped a hitch pattern along the left sideline, intercepting Zamora's pass and taking it 50 yards to the end zone to cut the lead to 28-17 with just 48 seconds left in the first half.
But after a 35-yard kickoff return from Edrington, Zamora looked less like a sophomore in his first year of varsity competition and more like a collected veteran, finishing a three-play scoring drive with a 28-yard fade to Edrington to push the lead back to 35-17.
"That stuff fires me up. It got me motivated to redeem myself," Zamora said. "One thing coach (Scott) Bond tells me is to manage the game. I don't have to be a playmaker -- we've got enough of those already. I have to make sure I keep us in the game."
