Arkansas grid pledge Jordon Curtis shines in season opener

Jordon Curtis, Jenks (Okla.) High tailback/defensive back, plays on Friday, July 15, 2016, during their game against Elkins High as part of the Southwest Elite 7-on-7 tournament at Rogers High School.

— Arkansas three-star cornerback commit Jordon Curtis of Jenks, Okla., announced his intention to have a big senior season by scoring on both sides of the ball in his season opener on Friday.

Curtis (6-1, 180, 4.4) rushed four times for 105 yards – including an 80-yard touchdown run – caught two passes for 26 yards and also took an interception back 30 yards for a score in No. 1 Jenks’ 41-23 season-opening win over No. 5 Owasso in a Class 6A matchup.

“I had a pretty good game, but I could not have done it without my teammates,” Curtis said. “We put in a lot of work and it paid off. Now e jjust want to keep getting better each week and try to win another state championship.”

Another state championship would be the 17th in the school’s history and would be the sixth in as many seasons for Jenks, who plays at Bixby this weekend before its annual rivalry battle with Union.

“That’s always our goal to start the season,” Curtis said. “We lost a lot of guys off of last year’s team, but we also have a lot of great guys back and some ready to step up.”

Curtis, who committed to Arkansas on June 17th, is the only returning starter on defense from last season.

“I thought our defense played pretty well, but obviously we can clean some things up and we can get better,” Curtis said. “But it was a good first outing.”

Curtis rushed 87 times for 781 yards and 12 touchdowns last season while also catching 14 passes for 308 yards and two more scores.

He also had 24 tackles and three interceptions on defense at cornerback, the spot Arkansas has him ticketed for in college.

“I'm a high school coach, but I've always told him and his dad he's the cookie-cutter college nickel, college corner guy because he's going to be rangy enough to match up on a bigger guy and he's athletic enough to cover a smaller guy,” Jenks head coach Allan Trimble told the Tulsa World.

Curtis plans to be in Fayetteville on Saturday with his dad Louis – a former collegiate player at both Wisconsin and Tulsa - for Arkansas’ season opener with visiting Louisiana Tech.

“Yes, my dad and I are coming over and excited about seeing the Razorbacks get their season started,” Curtis said. “I think they are going to have a great year.”