Jordan runs fly route

Nick Christensen

Wednesday, June 29, 2005 | 9:34 a.m.

Shadow Ridge Mustangs, meet your new MVP.

Eric Jordan, who last year won the Sun's All-State offensive player of the year award, is going to enroll at the northwest Las Vegas high school.

In his junior year at Las Vegas High, Jordan rushed for 2,769 yards en route to the state championship game where the Wildcats lost to undefeated Palo Verde.

Jordan's father, Eric Jordan Sr., left a voicemail with the Sun on Friday. Further attempts to reach the Jordans were unsuccessful; in an earlier interview, Eric Jordan Sr. mentioned that the family had planned a vacation this week.

"At this point, he is going to be at Shadow Ridge," Jordan Sr. said in the message. "The truth in regards to the decision and why it was made, as far as logistics and distances ... it had nothing to do with all that other madness that's going on."

Some within the local football community speculated that a new, pass-heavy offensive system was going to be implemented at Las Vegas High, which might have discouraging Jordan from returning.

Shadow Ridge coach J.D. Johnson said last week that he thought the move was because Jordan's parents wanted to watch both Eric and younger brother Joshua play football.

Last week, though, Jordan Sr. said that because the family had moved to the Shadow Ridge zone, 25 miles away from Las Vegas High, commuting was a chore for his sons. He said that he was typically waking them at 4:30 a.m. daily, and they often would not return until 7 p.m. or later.

The loss is good news for Jordan's backup at Las Vegas, Jamal Lomax.

"He's going to carry a lot of the load of our defense," Vegas coach Chris Faircloth said.

As for losing Jordan, Faircloth said he's not disappointed.

"We've lost players before to different schools. Obviously not one that's had that type of production for us," he said. "We just pick up and move on."

Vegas travels to Shadow Ridge to take on the Mustangs on Sept. 16.