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Burke Does Work As Huskies Leader On Both Sides Of Ball

Arizona Sports News online

There is a confidence that comes with Hamilton wide receiver and defensive back Kyeler Burke. On the field, he is giving an emphatic motion to “move the chains” after the Huskies pick up a first down or throwing up four fingers after the defensive unit takes care of business.  After the game, his confidence was on display when talking about his teammates as the Huskies continue their undefeated 2015 campaign.

The confidence is a very good thing for the Hamilton senior; he believes in his team, in his body language, and his words.

And it stems from him being there before.

The confidence helped him when he was a sophomore at the varsity level, a rarity in the deep talent pool that is Hamilton High School. The confidence is helping him this season when he plays on both sides of the ball for the Huskies, which has happened even less frequently in Hamilton’s history.

Once to be exact.

“I mean it’s a big accomplishment for me, but at the same time I need to be smart on when I’m going in picking my spots on offense because primarily I need to be a defensive player to shut down an offense so I need to be smart about picking and choosing my spots,” the senior, who also spends time at punt return, said.

There’s Burke for you, confident, but all business.

Burke has plenty of reasons to be confident in his team. After knocking off Centennial in a 34-27 bout Thursday night, the Huskies are now 6-0. One of the reasons for that win? Sophomore running back Jawhar Jordan, who Burke took under his wing at the beginning of the season.

Jordan only touched the ball a few times Thursday night, but when he did, the sophomore dipped, stuttered, and slipped his way around the defense. It’s fitting Jordan’s Twitter handle is @CutOnDime_ because he pulled that move a few times against the Coyotes, including a long screen play he was able to extend for a touchdown.

The performance isn’t a surprise to the seasoned Burke, who shows off a glowing grin just at the reference of his running back.

“Ever since Jawhar moved in, I watched him play all his freshman games,” Burke said. “When coach told me he was going to bring him up, I took him under my wing like my little brother. I helped him learn the offense.”

Thanks to Burke and fellow senior running back Austin Lowe, Jordan picked up the offense quickly and has four touchdowns in as many games.

“I look up to Kyeler, he taught me a lot. He came up as a sophomore too so he taught me how it goes and how there’s a lot of pressure since you’re the youngest on the team,” Jordan said. “You’ve got to mature quicker since all your friends are on (junior varsity) now and now you just have to step it up.”

Burke has stepped it up in his time on the varsity level, and Jordan is well on his way.  Who knows? Maybe a few years down the line, we’ll see that very same confidence out of his sophomore counterpart.

Mixing his passions for sports and storytelling, Jordan comes to Sports360az as a multimedia reporter/producer looking to share the best stories Arizona has to offer. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram @JordyHamm

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