Zamora adapting to higher level
Accomplishments: Christian Zamora shined in a sport in which he stepped away from earlier in his life.
The Lodi High football player, a junior running back, is back and found room to run in the Flames’ 41-15 win over Stagg in a non-league game at Hubbard Field on the Tokay High campus on Sept. 13. Zamora scored four touchdowns — two each in the first and second quarters.
“When I see a hole, I just tend to take it,” said Zamora, who is listed on the Flames’ roster at 5foot-8 and 183-pounds. “If I don’t see a hole, I’m just running as hard as I can.”
On top of racing to the end zone, Zamora finished with 146 yards on 16 carries, averaging 9.1 yards per carry. For the season. Zamora is the Flames’ leading rusher with 504 yards on 43 carries and nine touchdowns.
Zamora is glad with his role of playing one-way that could give opposing defenses issues if he stays behind his linemen or creates open lanes on his own.
“Offense has been really good for me,” Zamora said. “The line has been really good for me. I really like it.”
Beating Stagg was gratifying for Zamora and his Flame teammates of whom he refers to as his brothers. The Delta Kings have beaten the Flames in close games the last two seasons.
“We’re just taking week by week,” Zamora said. “We just focus on each game each week.”
In preparing for this season, Zamora spent a lot of time in the weight room. He bench presses 250 pounds and squats 350. He knew a lot of time would need to be spent in the weight room in adapting to playing varsity football to last year when he played on the school’s junior varsity squad in 2018.
“Hours in the weight room,” Zamora said. “I had my teammates pushing me. It’s a whole new different environment once you get to varsity. It’s really exciting. Once you get up there, you really got to work your butt off.”
At age 6, Zamora played youth football. But that only lasted for three years and then stopped playing the sport.
“I was one of those kids that didn’t like the sport; I thought it was too physical for me,” Zamora said. “I was like that at first.”
When Zamora reached middle school, he decided to go out for football again. This time he wanted to focus on just being a running back instead of playing on both sides of the ball.
“I started liking it again,” Zamora said. “I got much more physical. I just enjoy the game; I love the game a lot more.”
Football isn’t the only sport Zamora plays. Once the Flames’ football season is over — in which he and Lodi teammates feel will include a trip to Sacramento State University where the SacJoaquin Section Divisions I/II titles games will be played in late November — he will be headed to the Flames’ wrestling room to compete on the Lodi squad. Last winter, he wrestled in the 170-pound class.
Next spring, Zamora will be running on the Lodi High boys track and field team. He was on the school’s junior varsity boys’ squad last spring.