The562’s coverage of Jordan Athletics is sponsored by former LBUSD superintendent Chris Steinhauser.
It’s a new day on the Northside.
The Jordan football team enters the 2025 football season with a brand new coach, a brand new stadium, and a brand new attitude.
First-year coach Alfred Rowe was a ball of energy at a recent Panthers’ practice, their first full padded practice in their new stadium, which features blue turf, a video scoreboard, and all new stands and seating as well. Rowe, a Poly alum who was an assistant coach at Wilson and Millikan before, was exhorting his players to move faster as they ran from one drill to the next.
“We can’t be slow! We can’t be slow!” he said, windmilling his arms. Rowe and his staff are trying to inject urgency into everything their team is doing right now, and they can be as loud and vocal as any high school coaches you’ll ever see.
“If I let off the throttle I’m not doing my job,” he said. “All my coaches coach with energy, that’s one of the requirements. We’re trying to teach them to play fast–we don’t have the depth yet, but if we play with better effort than anyone else I think we have a good chance.”
Rowe grabs attention when he’s yelling on the field, or when making predictions off of it–like saying Jordan will be the first Moore League team to win a modern-era state championship at the league’s recent media day.
But where he’s truly at his best as a coach is in quiet moments, like when defensive lineman Deanthoine Price pulled him aside during practice to ask a technique-related question. Rowe put his hand on the ground to demonstrate what he was talking about, answered a follow-up question, then nodded to himself when Price incorporated the move into the team’s offense vs. defense session a little later.
“I really like coach Rowe,” said senior Marcus Williams, a receiver/defensive back. “He’s a great man, and he really teaches the game. We’re practicing hard and doing everything right.”
The team will get an immediate momentum boost this year with the opening of their new football stadium, which will have a ribbon-cutting on August 16 and then host the team’s first game of the season on August 29 against Crenshaw. The stadium is beautiful and state of the art, with blue turf and a gorgeous blended gray/blue color on the nine-lane track that surrounds it.
Senior defensive lineman Deanthoine Price said the stadium has made a big difference to how his team takes the field for practices, and for games in a few weeks.
“I played here for the past three years on the same field, grass field not turf,” he said. “Just a ran down stadium, ran down everything basically. So being able to play on a new field with new everything, new equipment, it’s just very exciting.”
Rowe said that the stadium has made an immediate difference in how his program is perceived.
“It just brings a sense of pride to the team,” he said. “We’re going to have some things that you’ll have to see on August 29. And I think, why not Jordan? Why don’t we get to do this? We’ve got a booster club, we’re giving kids breakfast. We’re giving everything the top programs in the league are doing. It’s like Mark Cuban said, ‘You’ve gotta get name brand ice cream, not off brand ice cream.’ Those things are part of how you build a champion.”
Of course, a new stadium and coach go a long way, but they ultimately don’t matter as much as the players that make up the team. This year’s Jordan team features a blend of returning talent from last year’s 3-7 squad, as well as new faces that Rowe hopes will make a difference.
The biggest addition to the team is quarterback Sama’jay Jackson, an All-Moore League hooper for Jordan who’s entering his junior season. Jackson was an experienced youth quarterback who stepped away from the sport when things were shut down for COVID, and he’s been picking it back up and putting his 6-foot-5 inch frame to good use under center.
“He’s doing good picking it up for what we’re going to do,” said Rowe. “We’re in pistol, we’re going to put our best athletes against your best athletes. (Sama’jay) can run, so good luck on catching him.”
He’ll also have a thudding running back in Chris Falcon, and experienced receivers in Kani Swisher, Kymani Hill, Marcus Williams (who can also play speed back) and Marquice Horton. The line up front is a mix of experience and new faces with Jaedion Bookman, David Velasquez, Richard Gonzalez, Jacob Lopez, and Eduardo Cabrera.
Defensively, Price will be a stud up front for the Panthers with Keith Brooks Jr., Phoenix White, and promising sophomore Rudy Lopez in the linebacking corps. As always the Panthers have talent in the defensive backfield including Trejon Spears, Kymani Hill, Williams, and Jordan Thomas.
Jordan has all the pieces–now it’s just about putting them together.
“It’s just trying to teach them how to win,” said Rowe. “They don’t know how yet and that’s okay–it’s my job to teach them. It’s our job to teach them how to practice hard and with effort. My goal is by gametime that it’s easier than practice.”
Projected Starting Lineup
Offense
QB: Sama’jay Jackson, Jr.
WR: Kani Swisher, Sr.
WR: Kymani Hill, Sr.
WR: Marcus Williams, Sr.
WR: Marquice Horton, Sr.
RB: Chris Falcon, Jr.
OL: Jaedion Bookman, Sr.
OL: David Velasquez, Sr.
OL: Richard Gonzalez, So.
OL: Jacob Lopez, Jr.
OL: Eduardo Cabrera, Sr.
K: Rudy Lopez, So.
Defense
DL: Deanthoine Price, Sr.
DL: Kevin Guevara, Sr.
DL: Sargon Ingram-Scroggins, Sr.
DL: Simion Starks, Sr./ Jakob Peapea, Jr.
LB: Keith Brooks Jr., So.
LB: Phoenix White, Jr.
LB: Rudy Lopez, So.
DB: Trejon Spears, Sr.
DB: Kymani Hill, Sr.
DB: Rashon Moore, Sr.
DB: Marcus Williams, Sr.
DB: Jordan Thomas, So.
P: Rudy Lopez, Sr.
2025 Jordan Football Schedule
8/29 – vs. Crenshaw
9/5 – at La Canada
9/12 – vs. Bell Gardens
9/19 – vs. Long Beach Poly*
9/26 – vs. Charter Oak
10/3 – vs. Millikan*
10/10 – vs. Lakewood*
10/18 – at Compton*
10/24 – at Wilson*
10/30 – vs. Cabrillo*
* League game
