It was a Panther reunion on Friday at Peninsula High School, as the Long Beach Jordan Panthers faced off against the Peninsula Panthers after previously playing them last season. Though it wasn’t the same 41-point performance as it was a year ago, Jordan found a way to get it done, defeating Peninsula, 7-6.
Down one point with five minutes remaining in the game, Peninsula threatened with a first and goal inside the Jordan five yard line. Having come up big all game, the Jordan D-Line stuffed three straight runs, holding a goal line stand and forcing a field goal attempt. The field goal would be missed, allowing the Jordan offense to take over and run out the remaining time on the clock.
“It felt pretty good,” said defensive captain Israel Poyer of his D-Line’s goal-line stand. “Just thinking about my D-Linemen I didn’t wanna leave them hanging since this is my last year. I just wanted to lead us to shut it down. The whole defense stepped up today. We had a dog fight but we fought through it.”
Though the defense held, the Jordan offense was unable to get much going. The Panthers' only score of the day came off a reception along the right sideline from JJ Nielsen to Deonte Tucker. Coach Jon Neilson said the lack of offensive production was partly due to adjustments made from injuries.
“It was just that we’re banged up,” Nielsen said of his team. “We had to play some different people in different spots but that’s just how you have to adjust to the game.”
Most notably injured was senior Jordan Washington, the standout four-star running back who injured his hamstring in the first half. Washinton accounts for a huge chunk of Jordan’s offense, including his three touchdowns and 187 yards just a game ago.
Coach Neilsen said that his team has some things to work on after the game.
“When defense does that, (the rest of the team) has to do our job. There’s a lot of things to clean up and we’ll be back at it again next week,” said Nielsen.
The Panthers will host George Washington Prep at home next week.
