When you are facing the best you can’t have any mistakes.

It’s an easy lesson to give, but a harder one to grasp without the experience against those types of teams and programs and it’s a lesson that Jordan had to go through on Friday night.

The Warriors (11-2) were plagued by uncharacteristic mistakes in their third-round matchup against Summer Creek (11-2). From fumbles to bad snaps and not ever getting in a rhythm, Jordan shot itself in the foot and gave Summer Creek extra chances, and it led to a 54-20 loss that ended a historic season for the Warriors.

“When you get to this level, you have to be excellent in all three phases of the game,” said Jordan head coach Mike Rabe. “We had some hiccups in special teams, had some bad turnovers and did some things that aren’t like us. That’s stuff we’ve been good at all year, especially the turnover margin. We just didn’t get it done today even though our kids gave their all.”

Jordan opened the scoring on its second drive of the game. The Warriors got a big pass play from Dominic Cangolosi to Tanner West to get down the field and then got a touchdown on a 9-yard pass from Cangolosi to Landon Williams.

The two teams went back and forth the rest of the first quarter, but Summer Creek started to flex its ability in the second. 

Jordan gave Summer Creek a short field after a fumble by the punter and the Bulldogs made no mistakes with it, as Blake Thomas ran in a 20-yard score to tie things up. Jordan drove into Summer Creek territory, but another fumble gave the ball back to the Bulldogs and they took the lead when Thomas took a run in from 46 yards out. Jordan then had a snap go over the punter's head on its next drive and it was picked up by Jashaud Johnson, who took it 25 yards and added to Summer Creek’s lead. Jordan fumbled again Summer Creek took advantage again, as Thomas found Benny Easter Jr. for a 31-yard pass and a touchdown that put Summer Creek up 35-7 going into halftime.

“The kids, no matter the score tonight, they didn’t let up and that means everything as a coach,” Rabe said. “It’s just fortunate that these are the types of kids that we can coach. They’re gritty kids, they like to go out and compete and they play the game hard. That’s all you can ask.”

Summer Creek tacked on another score midway through the third quarter when Braylin Causey ran in a 2-yard touchdown and Thomas threw a 49-yard touchdown to Miller late in the third before Zion Jones returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown. 

 The Bulldogs added a field goal and another touchdown on a 6-yard run from Aaron Alexander and Zion Jones answered with one final score on a 1-yard Jones run late in the game.

“This group was really special, I feel like I have been with them forever and watched them grow up,” Rabe said. “It’s not often you get to coach a group fully for four years as varsity kids, but that’s what we were fortunate enough to do with this group and they are going to be very much missed.”

Jordan’s best-ever season ends with a 12-2 record and a trip to the regional semifinals for the first time in school history. The Warriors will graduate some extremely talented players, players that came into their program and helped them become more successful in its young history. But the Warriors aren’t satisfied with just getting to this point. They want to continue to climb, continue to get better and continue to reach for greater heights in the future. 

“The senior class this year did a good job of setting the stage and showing what kind of work you need to put in,” Rabe said. “I think these other guys have followed suit with that and I anticipate that to continue. They’ve seen what it takes to play at this level and they want to go further than this. This is the first step towards that.”

Summer Creek 54, Jordan 20

First quarter

J: Dominic Cangolosi 9 pass to Landon Williams (Sebastian Baptista kick) 3:38

Second quarter

SC: Blake Thomas 20 run (Brian Mayde kick) 11:36

SC: Thomas 46 run (Mays kick) 6:23

SC: Jashaud Johnson 25 fumble recovery (Mays kick) 3:04

SC: Thomas 31 pass to Benny Easer Jr. (Mays kick) 2:46

Third quarter

SC: Braylin Causey 2 run (Mays kick) 6:48

SC: Thomas 49 pass to Holden Miller (Mays kick) 1:06

J: Zion Jones 90 kick return (Baptista kick) 0:52

Fourth quarter

SC: Mays 31 field goal, 10:47

SC: Aaron Alexander 6 run (Mays kick) 8:46

J: Jones 1 run (Caleb White point after return) 6:33

Team Statistics

Individual Statistics

Rushing – Jordan: Tanner West, 15-82; Zion Jones, 8-30-1; Dominic Cangolosi, 16-3; Patrick Spann, 1-2; Summer Creek: Blake Thomas, 19-138-2; Aaron Alexander, 4-48-1; Braylin Causey, 4-30-1; Keyshawn Jackson, 2-5; Eugene Burnett, 1-2;

Passing – Jordan: Dominic Cangolosi, 16-27-248-1-0; Summer Creek: Blake Thomas, 6-20-127-2-0;

Receiving – Jordan: Andrew Marsh, 8-162; Tanner West, 3-74; Landon Williams, 3-22-1; Benedict Okwura, 1-13; Summer Creek: Holden Miller, 3-79-1; Benny Easter,  Jr. 1-31-1; Jamicah Jones, 1-12; Tristan Sanchez, 1-5;