Narbonne Field Goal Spoils Brown’s Jordan Debut, 21-19

Kevin Harris, Jordan’s senior quarterback, made a vow late Friday afternoon regarding the Bulldogs’ longest-in-the-City losing streak.

“It’s going to end this year,” he said with assurance.

Only a few minutes earlier, the streak had reached 27 games when Ryan Medrano kicked a 27-yard field goal with only 14 seconds to play, giving Narbonne a 21-19 victory over Jordan at Narbonne.

“We came close here,” said Harris, who scored Jordan’s first two touchdowns on a pair of one-yard runs and directed a Bulldog offense that outgained Narbonne’s, 228 yards to 158. “But we couldn’t grab it.”

The loss spoiled the debut of Jordan Coach Willie Brown, a three-time Super Bowl winner as a player and assistant with the Raiders.

“It was a good game, really, from my point of view,” said Brown, who was the head coach at Long Beach State for one season before the school dropped its football program after the 1991 season. “It was the first game of the season and the kids played hard. It came down to a field goal, and that’s pretty good for the first game. Naturally, we would like to have won it, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.”

Jordan, which has not won since 1991, overcame an 18-12 deficit midway through the fourth quarter when Nate Turner intercepted a pass by Narbonne quarterback Marcos Ramirez and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown.

Luis Cabreles’ extra point gave Jordan a 19-18 lead with 7:08 to play and the Bulldog defense, which had limited Narbonne to fewer than 100 yards to that point, forced a punt on Narbonne’s next possession.

Two plays later, however, Jordan’s Marcus Garbutt fumbled. Aaron Warren recovered for Narbonne with 3:55 remaining and the Gauchos, who earlier had taken advantage of great field position as Jordan averaged less than seven yards per punt, put together their longest drive of the game, moving 57 yards to Jordan’s 10-yard line in the final minute.

“We woke up and came to life,” Coach LeRoy Wilson said.

Two passes fell incomplete before Medrano, who had shanked a conversion attempt earlier, kicked his game-winning field goal on fourth down.

“For the first game of the year, that was a hell of a kick,” Wilson said. “There’s a lot of pressure on the kicker and the snapper and the holder. That was a fantastic deal that they sucked it up and did that.”

For Jordan, of course, it was another disappointing finish, but the Bulldogs could take heart in putting up a mighty struggle.

“They made some mistakes that cost them,” Wilson said. “But they’re better than they were last season. They’re going to win a few games.”

J--Harris 1 run (pass failed)

N--Taylor 1 run (kick failed)

J--Harris 1 run (pass failed)

N--Armstrong 23 pass from Ramirez (pass failed)

N--Fonte 9 pass from Ramirez (pass failed)

J--Turner 20 interception return (Cabreles kick)

N--FG Medrano 27

Records: Narbonne 1-0; Jordan 0-1

Next week: Jordan at Jefferson.