CALABASAS — Calabasas junior Jesse Belvin saw an opportunity that seemed too good to pass up after playing two years at Santa Monica and never making it higher than the JV team.
There were no guarantees Belvin would play, let alone start, at his new school, which just produced King Miller, now at USC. But Belvin believed in himself, his speed, his strength, and competitive nature that would propel Calabasas to its latest victory.
Belvin rushed for three touchdowns, and Calabasas used a 49-yard punt return from UCLA commit Kingston Celifie before the end of the second quarter to race past Burbank 47-7.
“I just wanted to set the tone there for my teammates,” Belvin said. “Great job by my offensive line, and I’m very grateful for them. I can’t get the words out. I’m so thankful. We all did our jobs tonight. My confidence is above the charts.”
Belvin also paid tribute to his older brother Christian, who passed away in a car crash in 2018.
“It was a lot of adversity. I came to work for my spot, I got it, and I balled out tonight.” Belvin said before getting drenched in celebratory blue Gatorade by offensive lineman Donald Penn III.
Calabasas earned its third straight win to start the season.
Belvin endured two years of waiting for his shot before switching from the coast and moving 12 miles to Calabasas.
Now Belvin is recognized as one of the team’s top offensive players in a program loaded with talent.
Burbank (1-2) struggled to match the speed of Calabasas’ run game and the athleticism and arm of senior Dominik Hardy after recovering an onside kick on the first play of the game.
Hardy rushed for over 100 yards and threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to Korbin Thomas in the fourth quarter.
Burbank senior Troy Wells rushed for a 7-yard touchdown to trim the deficit to 12-7 with 4:37 remaining in the second quarter before Celifie’s touchdown punt return gave Calabasas command of the evening.
“We shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times,” Burbank coach Hector Valencia said. “I think they did a great job and (Hardy) did a great job of extending their offense. We’d have him, and then he was able to elude our rush to get a first down or get the ball out to his players. A lot of credit goes to that kid, the way he was able to extend. That punt return killed us.”
Calabasas coach Cary Harris saw better results from his defense. Senior linebacker Obi Ofomat, senior defensive end Ben Omrani and sophomore linebacker Davin Beglari stopped Burbank on four fourth-down conversion attempts.
“When you start to see a player-led team, seeing them be accountable and do the right things, we’ve seen us make that transition,” Harris said. “It’s good to see us do that on the field.”
Calabasas hosts Birmingham in Week 3 while Burbank travels to Golden Valley next Friday.