Thursday, Jan. 13, 2005 | 9:25 a.m.
If this keeps up, it won't be long before the Sunrise Region's Northeast Division is better known as Running Back Central.
Since the division came to life before the 2000-01 season, Eldorado's Steven Jackson launched his now NFL-caliber career, Cornell Johnson at Desert Pines wowed big-time recruiters from across the country, and Antoine White set several state rushing records at Las Vegas High.
Now, Eric Jordan takes the reins as the state's premier running back, and also as the Sun's 2004 Offensive Player of the Year.
For the most part, Jordan was the Wildcats' offense. His 2,769 rushing yards constituted just less than half of his team's total rushing yards. His 222 points on 37 touchdowns were also just less than half of the Wildcats' total points. He already has passed White's career rushing mark, and is currently sixth in Nevada history in total net yards.
Jordan indeed carried the Wildcats this season, all the way to the state championship game, which they lost 21-7 to undefeated Palo Verde.
"He's just a kid that could get us into the end zone in a hurry and that could happen at any time," Wildcats coach Chris Faircloth said. "We didn't have a lot else that could do that for us. Down the stretch we were very dependent on him."
At no time was that more evident than in the state semifinal, at Reed High School in Sparks. On a field that started the afternoon as covered in snow and ended as a cold pool of muck, Jordan accounted for all three of the Wildcats' touchdowns, running for 297 yards while the rest of his teammates combined for a loss of 2 yards in Las Vegas' 21-14 win.
"We would like to diffuse that a little bit. He'll definitely carry the ball. We forsee probably another 300 carries," Faircloth said of next year. "He's a game-breaker type running back. You've got to give him the ball."
Some opposing coaches quietly wondered whether Las Vegas coaches would overuse their young star with too many carries. But every week, Jordan carried the ball 30 or so more times, and every week all those same opposing coaches could do was scratch their heads.
Faircloth, and his predecessor, Kris Cinkovich, learned of Jordan's talent in 2002. Jordan was summoned to varsity late in his freshman year, after the Vegas coaching staff grew weary of their running back corps' struggles. He had 476 yards in his abbreviated ninth grade season.
As a sophomore, Jordan was an all-state running back after running for 1,764 yards and scoring 25 touchdowns. He broke his wrist toward the end of the last game of Vegas' regular season, and didn't return for his team's emotionally charged run at the state championship, a run that ended in defeat at Reno.
Yet with teams stuffing the box knowing exactly what Jordan brought to the table, he still was able to get his yards this season.
"We're very fortunate. Some of those kids you can replace, some you can't replace," Faircloth said. "We may have to wait a very long time before we get another one like that."
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