Having now broken Bayfield High School’s shot put record two weekends in a row, tossing 53-feet, 8-inches and 53-09, David Hawkins’ plans to go even bigger – perhaps at this Saturday’s Ron Keller Invitational in Durango – in his quest for a state title are no secret.
“I’m really hoping to hit, at least, 54 this week; I’ve been getting it in practice,” he said after Wednesday afternoon’s workout. “Then today I threw 55 at least four times. To get that in a meet would be huge.
“Then I’m really excited about the meets in Pueblo and Colorado Springs because I’ll get to throw against the other two, three top throwers in the state. So, it’ll be some good competition coming up.”
Unofficially also targeting the household best – father and BHS assistant coach Frank’s 57-02 whopper thrown in 1985 – still the record at Houston, Texas-area Alief Hastings High School – during his final Wolverine spring, there had been suitors seeking his skills for a track-and-field future.
But at least for the time being, the sport in which he first emerged won out.
“I loved the scene when I took my official visit down to NAU for track,” Hawkins said, referring to NCAA Division I Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona. “Loved the coach, loved the throwers who were there, and they have my major. It’s a beautiful town, just like Durango, but really, at the end of the day, I wanted to play football, and I knew that.
“Even if I was down there throwing track, I knew I wanted to try and walk on and play. So, it was kind of a flip of the coin, and it turned out this way.”
Ready to reroute his student-athlete status out of the Pine River Valley, Hawkins recently revealed his intent to attend and play for Monterey Peninsula College, a California Community College Athletic Association member and part of the Northern California Football Conference, American Division’s Golden Coast Conference. Hawkins has bigger goals in mind after his time at Peninsula.
“I’d love to play in the PAC-12 Conference. That would be super-cool and a huge accomplishment,” he said. “That was one of my first conversations with the coach out there, that I’m looking to move up and try to go to a bigger school afterwards. And he said he was happy with that and happy to help me, so it’ll be awesome to play for a bigger school out on the West Coast.”
MPC finished last season 5-5 overall and 3-3 in conference to finish fourth. The team won the GCC title the previous two years.
Hawkins finished last season with 1,109 rushing yards and nine rushing touchdowns his senior season, but the backfield doesn’t appear to be where Monterey immediately envisions using the 6-foot-3, 230-pound Hawkins. The Lobos see him as a viable tight end, a position virtually no BHS fan has seen him man.
“I haven’t played it really unless you’re talking, like, grade school, so it’ll be fun,” said Hawkins, also mentioning possible collegiate usage as a stand-up defensive end. “I’m excited to play a new position. Means new things to learn and at a whole different level, too.”
“He’s tall, he can jump, he’s got good hands, and like the coach said, ‘We know he can run the football once he gets it,’” Frank Hawkins said. “He caught a few passes out of the backfield this year, had the big one up at Faith, and I think he’d be a great tight end. We just didn’t use the tight end very much in our offense here.”
But in playing for a program which has sent six quarterbacks to the Division I level, adjusting to a receiving role is a challenge Hawkins says he’s ready to tackle.
“I’m definitely excited about being able to continue my football career, and playing football at Bayfield has obviously given me a lot of different opportunities,” he said, indicating an interest in studying biology with an emphasis on animal science. “Really presents you with something where you have this desire to win, and I’d love to take that somewhere else and try to do that with a different program.
“And after I went and did a couple track visits, I knew my heart was set on football. It has been for as long as I can remember. And I really wanted to go on an adventure for college, and Monterey looked amazing, so I was happy to give them a call and they were happy to receive me.”
Monterey Peninsula College was a destination for, amongst others, future Super Bowl participants Herm Edwards (defensive back, Philadelphia Eagles, SB XV) and Nate Wright (DB, Minnesota Vikings, SB VIII, IX, XI), before both would go on to star at San Diego State University and, later, the NFL.
