Jordan found its breakthrough last year. 

In just its second season with a district, the Warriors stepped up and made the playoffs, overcoming a tough district with a young team to reach the postseason for the first time as a school.

It was a special year for Jordan and an important one. A young team and a young program gained valuable experience and played in very important games for the first time and learned how to be successful and how to overcome adversity, now heading into year three in District 19-6A, the goal is to step up and cement themselves as one of the top schools in the district.

“Last year was huge for this program,” said Jordan head coach Mike Rabe. “Last year’s group did a great job in leading and showing what it takes to be successful. They got better each week, kept improving and it was so important for these guys to get that experience and a taste of the playoffs.”

The Warriors have the players to do it as well. The offense will be spearheaded by top 60 recruit and the No. 8 wide receiving recruiting in the 2025 class Andrew Marsh and senior running back and Florida commit Chad Gasper. Those aren’t the only weapons though, Tanner West is back for his junior season and will be a major weapon at running back and in the slot. The trio will take lots of pressure off of quarterbacks Domenic Cangolosi and Beau Bryant, who are both battling for the starting job after the graduation of Colin Willetts, the only quarterback that Jordan has had through it’s first four years as a program.

“It’s huge to have those guys to help our quarterbacks,” Rabe said. “There’s guys all around the field that have a lot of experience and played a lot of varsity games. They’ve played in important games, so I think that can help those two quarterbacks both be comfortable in those situations this year, know they not have to do too much and take a bit of that stress off them.”

Zion Jones and Brayden Coffie will lead the defense and form a strong duo as defensive backs for the Warriors while Zach Taylor has been a big presence in the back end throughout the offseason and Jimmy-Phrisco Phillips will be a leader on the defensive line. The Warriors only bring back four defensive starters this year but Rabe feels the group has taken big steps to be successful.

“We hope they can step up and be that elite unit this year and that’s what we have seen from them so far,” Rabe said. “They looked good in spring and improved each week that they’ve been out there and we have big expectations out of our defense this year.”

Jordan will face Cy-Creek and Fort Bend Travis to open the season before getting Tompkins in the team’s first district game. It will be an important one to start things out and the Warriors will use the preseason and non-district games to be prepared for the games that matter most. 

“These two years we’ve had in 19-6A have really helped our program, it’s been tremendous,” Rabe said. “Everyone is so talented and so well coached, there’s no dip in the schedule and everyone can play everyone. The guys compete so hard week in and week out and that’s what makes this district special. We are going to have our work cut out for us from week one but that’s exactly what we’ve all been preparing for and these guys are going to be ready.”