Rebuilding years are nothing new for Jordan High School football coach Elijah Asante.

He went through a similar one in 2006 when his roster was populated with freshmen and sophomores. They would take the inevitable lumps for a year or so before maturing as upper classmen. It culminated last year when a group led by quarterback James Boyd (now at USC) led the Bulldogs to a quarterfinal finish in the City Section playoffs.

Asante faces a similar scenario this year with a 26-man roster dominated by underclassmen. Five sophomores and a freshman start for the Bulldogs, who are 1-1 and face traditional powerhouses St. Bonaventure and Mater Dei the next two weeks.

“We’re a young team again,” Asante said following last Thursday’s 51-12 road loss to 1-1 Esperanza of Anaheim. “These kids aren’t strong right now. Most would be starting JVs anywhere else. They have a lot of room for growth. But the best programs get knocked around. I do see us improving.”

As young as the Bulldogs are, that doesn’t mean Asante is going to ease up schedule-wise.

He has them playing their usual gauntlet of tough nonleague foes, including Friday’s 3 p.m. home game with Ventura’s St. Bonaventure, the state’s second-ranked team in the maxpreps.com poll. The defending Division III state champion Seraphs are led by talented running back Devon Blackledge, who is of concern to Asante.

“We’re going to have our hands full with him,” he said. “Somehow, we’re going to try and slow him down.”

Next week, they face Mater Dei.

Matt Barkley may now be USC’s starting quarterback, but that doesn’t mean the Mater Dei cupboard is bare. Even though, they aren’t as imposing as a year ago when Barkley was taking snaps, the Monarchs still have more bodies in uniform than the Bulldogs.

The current edition of the Bulldogs features lots of new faces, though, one of the holdovers from the previous years, Deshawn Beck, gives them experience along with plenty of talent.

With so many newcomers, Asante is putting a lot on the shoulders of the versatile Beck, who lines up at quarterback, running back and receiver, depending on the play. Against Esperanza, he rushed for a team-high 48 yards on 11 carries, caught five passes for 52 yards and a touchdown and completed one pass for 12 yards.

The 5-foot-10, 170-pounder, clocked as low as 4.22 in the 40, is one of the Southland’s more heavily recruited athletes. Arizona and New Mexico State have already offered him scholarships, according to rivals.com. USC, UCLA, Florida, Notre Dame, Cal and Oregon are some of the other schools showing interest.

“It might not be fair, but because we’re such a young team, he has to carry the load,” Asante said.

Junior quarterback Jackyle Cooper completed 16 of 26 passes for 162 yards and ran for 36 yards and a TD on nine carries before being shaken up.

Cooper was one of four Bulldogs to be sidelined by various injuries, thinning out what was already a thin roster.

Robert Lewis (eight catches for 74 yards) and Patrick Wooten (five for 64) were other returning veterans who had productive nights on the offensive side of the ball for Jordan.