The562’s football coverage for the 2025-26 school year is sponsored by Long Beach Poly alums Wendell “WoWo” Moe, Jr. & Tyson Ruffins.
The562’s coverage of Jordan Athletics is sponsored by former LBUSD superintendent Chris Steinhauser and the Timu Foundation.
Looking for their first playoff win ever, the Long Beach Jordan flag football got a big lift from their seniors on Tuesday on the North Side.
Janiah Lorn threw two touchdowns to Jah’shree Moore and Crystal Beltran-Lopez had multiple catches and sacks to help lift the Panthers to a 13-6 comeback win against Costa Mesa in the opening round of the CIF Southern Section Division 5 playoffs.
Jordan will now be on the road when they are on the road to take on Anaheim on Saturday.
“It felt great – I was nervous but I got out here and did my thing as usual,” Lorn said about helping Jordan win their first playoff game. I got my duo back, (Moore) is my key player besides Crystal. We just did everything we can.”
The visiting Mustangs were the third place team out of the Golden West league and it was clear from the opening drive that they wanted to get quarterback Emma Freeland in space so she can find her big targets like Sierra Kelly.
That’s exactly what Costa Mesa was able to do after getting a big stop against Jordan on their opening possession. After forcing a turnover on downs, Freeland starting to work the ball around to her playmakers like Myah Martinez and Kelly. But, with pressure from Beltran-Lopez Freeland used her feet to get loose multiple times as she kept the drive alive as they marched into Panther territory.
Freeland capped the drive when she threw a touchdown pass to Kelly to take a 6-0 with 5:47 left in the first quarter. However, on the PAT attempt – Moore made a great jump in front of Kelly and intercepted the pass to keep the score 6-0.
“We’re ready,” Moore said about the team’s performance. “The effort is there and it’s great.”
Jordan’s offense continued to struggle early on as Lorn found Dasiiya Torrance for a gain, but once again the drive stalled as the Panthers weren’t able to string enough plays together to get the ball down field.
However, Beltran-Lopez continued to be a terror for Freeland as she chased her around the backfield multiple times picking up a couple sacks on the next drive to force a turnover on downs.
“Seniors really put in the effort,” Beltran-Lopez said. “Everyone is showing up when it matter the most in the playoffs. You hear cheering in the background we’re excited and we’re moving to the next round.”
On the next drive, Lorn connected with Moore on the first play as Jordan tied the game and then took the lead when Lorn found Beltran-Lopez in the corner of the end zone for the PAT.
The Panthers’ defense continued to bend but not break three turnover on downs as Costa Mesa tried to mount a comeback late.
However, Jordan put the game away when Lorn threw her second touchdown of the night to Moore to give the Panthers a 13-6 win.
“This was a team effort,” Jordan coach Arnold Lopez said. “We did what we were supposed to do. We were the home team and we just protected our home, which is what we did all season. We were really disciplined and the girls brought it. It was a dog fight. Some things didn’t go out way but we fought through it.”
