CALEDONIA — Jaden Jordan merely added a brand new one to his prolonged place lineup.
The junior receiver, defensive again and punter at Marion Harding grew to become its quarterback within the third sequence of the sport and helped lead the Presidents to a 26-8 victory at River Valley in a Week 5 Mid Ohio Athletic Convention soccer sport Sept. 18, 2026.
"Final yr was the identical factor. Final yr, Dez (Feliciano) obtained damage, and I got here in and we made huge performs, so it didn’t really feel prefer it was a problem. We accepted the problem," Jordan mentioned.
It's true, he completed the final half of the 2025 season as Harding's quarterback when Feliciano went down with a season-ending harm. Friday night time he was pressed into responsibility once more when Feliciano left the sport for good with a decrease leg harm that required him to make use of a boot whereas watching on the sidelines within the second half.
"No nerves," Jordan mentioned.
All he did on his first play at quarterback was hit Jackson Payne in stride with a bomb up the sideline for a 78-yard landing go with 3:34 left within the first quarter. The Presidents by no means trailed from there.
"We’ve been on this state of affairs earlier than, and coach (C.J.) Westler handles it nicely with us. I believe we have been very ready for it," Jordan mentioned.
He completed 11-for-18 passing with 215 yards and a pair of landing passes to Payne with no interceptions. He additionally added 37 yards dashing on eight carries.
"It’s such a luxurious to have two succesful quarterbacks," Westler mentioned. "He’s such a fantastic participant that it’s straightforward to place him elsewhere, however he has the flexibility to play quarterback. He doesn’t observe it rather a lot, however he grew up enjoying quarterback.
"He goes in there and makes performs. He’s a sensible child and a poised child. When issues break down, he’s capable of make a play like Dez. He performed extraordinarily nicely, and I believe a few of it was it occurred so shortly he didn’t have time to consider it. He went in there and began enjoying."
Quincy Carter recovered a fumbled kickoff to begin the second half to place the Prexies on the RV 25. On a fourth-and-6 from the 11, Jordan scrambled for a landing and a 13-2 lead.
The Vikings answered again with a 10-play drive capped by a 7-yard TD go from Owen Collins to Carter Myers to make it 13-8, however on the making certain possession, Harding took a 19-8 lead when Jordan hit Payne for a 15-yard TD strike. Halfway by way of the fourth quarter, Marcus McGary broke away for a 66-yard acquire and later completed it with a 1-yard plunge for the Presidents.
"I believed our youngsters performed extraordinarily arduous," Westler mentioned. "We obtained in there at halftime, and we have been wanting over the numbers. We had 270 yards, and so they had 130. It was 7-2. We had two touchdowns known as again and 9 penalties. It’s at all times robust if you’re enjoying on the street and a younger staff and making errors. The way in which we got here out within the second half and overcame some adversity, I used to be actually happy with the children."
For Harding (4-1, 2-0), McGary ran for 154 yards on 15 carries, whereas Mattic Simmers backed him with 49 dashing yards on eight tries. Payne ended with seven receptions for 153 yards, plus an interception on protection, and Theo Collins had three catches for 42 yards. Kolton Sibrel was a big-play machine for the protection, ending with 6.5 tackles, 1.5 sacks, a fumble restoration and an interception. Azair Grey had two sacks and Simmers six tackles.
For RV (0-5, 0-2), Collins was 17-for-28 passing for 154 yards and ran 14 instances for 84 extra. Myers made six catches for 76 yards with Jacob Poulos grabbing six for 69 yards and Nolan Bailey three for 43. Zane Fitsko led everybody with eight tackles.
"We got here out and gave it every part we had," RV coach Dan Arndt mentioned. "That’s what we requested them to do, simply give us 48 minutes. You give us 48 minutes, and we have now a possibility. A few of these errors we had occur just like the kickoff (fumble) and the turnovers within the pink zone, that’s swinging the soccer sport."
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This text initially appeared on Marion Star: e
