In early August, Josh Hawkins had bigger things to worry about than making a splash in his first varsity football season at Glenn.
Hawkins, a 6-0, 160-pound junior, had two goals in mind -- he wanted to be a starter, and he wanted jersey No. 4.
So when he showed up for Glenn's picture day and saw the orange, blue and white No. 4 jersey hanging in his locker, he got a good feeling.
"I felt like I had gained the team's respect," he said.
He certainly has it now.
Hawkins started at safety and filled in at tailback in Glenn's opener, a 19-14 win over North Davidson. He scored all three of Glenn's touchdowns and grabbed an interception in the final minute to kill North's final drive.
Two games later against Carver, Hawkins was starting at tailback and safety, an indication of Coach Dick Cline's strong belief in him, because Cline prefers that his players concentrate on one position.
And Hawkins, who enjoys all the playing time, probably doesn't have to worry about losing it any time soon.
"I would have mutiny if I did that," Cline said when asked if he would phase Hawkins out of one of his starting roles. "After the West (Forsyth) game, I had coaches on the defensive side of the ball make the comment that he needed to be fulltime at tailback. So we made that change, but I don't want to give him up on defense either."
Although Hawkins hasn't added to his interception or touchdown totals since the opener, he still has made a giant impact for Glenn, which is 3-1 after last week's 24-21 win at Mount Tabor. Last Friday, Hawkins rushed 29 times for 166 yards, raising his season total to 394 yards on 76 carries.
"I have worked hard enough that journalists are talking to me and coaches are looking at me like, ‘Josh Hawkins is a really good player, a good guy to talk to and well-respected guy,' " Hawkins said.
"You just keep practicing hard. After every game, people say I have done a lot, but to me I haven't done enough."
Cline said: "He is not a robot as you would think with some kids. You have some very good athletes that play every Friday and Saturday night, and a lot of them are robots. Josh can improvise and get the job done."
Hawkins attended the UCLA-Tennessee football game in Knoxville last Saturday, and reported back to Cline with wide-open eyes about the size and speed of all the players. Cline said he thinks it showed Hawkins what he needs to become a Division I player.
"Right now, I am making A's and B's and no C's, just doing what I have to do to go a big school so I can play on TV," Hawkins said with a smile.
If Cline's assumption is correct, Hawkins won't run out of gas on his way to doing big things.
"When we played Carver, we told him, ‘We will see how your endurance is,' and he has good endurance," Cline said. "He is one of those guys that doesn't lose a whole lot playing both ways. We spell him on both sides when we can, and he doesn't need a long rest.
"He loves playing, and he is having fun. He doesn't get as a tired when he has that mentality."
rlinker@wsjournal.com
727-7324
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement