The562’s coverage of Jordan Athletics is sponsored by former LBUSD superintendent Chris Steinhauser.
Jordan’s flag football team got a taste of postseason success last year and now the Panthers hope a young roster can build on it.
The Panthers are coming off a season in which they advanced to the second round of the CIF Southern Section playoffs before suffering a one-point loss to the eventual Division 5 champion.
Jordan coach Arnold Lopez hasn’t forgotten how close his team came.
“Last year was a tough loss,” Lopez said. “We lost to the champs. They ended up winning the CIF Division 5 championship. We lost by one point. We were actually winning the whole game.”
Jordan loses a couple of high-profile seniors from that playoff team, but what the Panthers lack in experience, they may be able to make up for with numbers and young talent.
Jordan has doubled its participation numbers from a year ago and will field a frosh-soph team for the first time. Lopez said many of the newcomers were already students at Jordan who watched the program’s success last season and decided they wanted to be part of it.
“A lot of girls that were at Jordan, they weren’t playing football, but they watched and they saw the results of the product that was on the field,” Lopez said. “Honestly, just exposure to the game and seeing how fun it can be, we made it fun, and the girls have bought into that.”
Sophomore Aalanah Course experienced last season’s lack of depth firsthand and believes the larger roster could make a noticeable difference.
“I’m looking forward to having more girls out on the field because we had a small group last year,” Course said. “Most of us were really tired because we didn’t really have that many people.
“Now we have a lot of people, so we’re going to have a lot of energy. We’re going to be way better than we did last year.”
While much of the roster is young, Jordan does return experience at one of the most important positions. Junior Hazel Sandoval is expected to take the reins at quarterback after playing varsity throughout last season.
“We’re excited for what she’s going to bring to the table,” Lopez said.
Sophomore Chloe Torres is expected to contribute as an inside receiver, while junior Taniyah McDaniel gives Jordan another athletic option out of the backfield. Lopez said McDaniel impressed during offseason testing with her speed and agility and will play running back.
Another newcomer to watch is junior Gizelle Simmons. Despite being in her first season, Simmons earned a varsity starting role and provided the Panthers with size and length as a receiving target.
“She has great intangibles,” Lopez said. “It’s her first year, but she made varsity, and she’s actually starting. She’s going to be a big reason why we’re successful this year.”
Jordan will also enter a different Moore League landscape following the departures of Compton and Cabrillo. With fewer league games and potentially fewer automatic postseason berths available, Lopez knows the margin for error will shrink.
Jordan will still have to contend with programs such as Poly, Lakewood and Millikan, but Lopez believes last season’s experience has prepared his young group for the challenge.
Course has already noticed the difference.
“It went sky high,” Course said of the team’s confidence. “Most of us didn’t really know what we were doing. We were just playing because we wanted to play. But I feel like now that we know what we’re doing, we’re going to have an amazing year this year.”
For all the offensive weapons Jordan hopes to develop, Lopez expects the Panthers’ identity to begin on the other side of the ball.
“We’re going to hang our hat on our defense this year,” Lopez said. “We’re going to be really tough. We’re gritty, and these girls are hungry.
“They got a chip on their shoulder, and they don’t like being overlooked. We might not be something to pay attention to, but we are somebody to worry about.”
Jordan opens the season on Wednesday when they travel to La Canada.
