{"id":6838,"date":"2026-06-23T15:27:42","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T15:27:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/?p=6838"},"modified":"2026-06-23T15:27:42","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T15:27:42","slug":"hawkins-is-male-athlete-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/?p=6838","title":{"rendered":"Hawkins is male Athlete of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Middletown High School three-sport standout made his mark time and time again<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lake County Sports on Facebook<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MIDDLETOWN >> Though his slam dunks during basketball season became his trademark of sorts, Middletown High School\u2019s Jon Hawkins won\u2019t be playing the one sport in college that brought the Mustangs another North Central League I championship in 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hawkins, 18, a three-sport star during his senior season at Middletown and now headed to the College of Idaho, will henceforth limit his athletic activities to the gridiron and baseball diamond as he moves into the collegiate ranks to compete for the Yotes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was only going to play baseball (at Idaho), but they wanted me to play football, too,\u201d said Hawkins, who has been named the Lake County Sports Athlete of the Year for boys sports during the recently completed 2025-26 season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Yotes sweetened their scholarship offer to Hawkins with the inclusion of a second sport, which is guaranteed even if football doesn\u2019t work out, according to Hawkins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Middletown, Hawkins did it all for the Mustangs \u2013 on the gridiron, hardwood and diamond. A first-team wide receiver\/defensive back in football, Middletown won 11 games, the fifth North Coast Section title in school history, and earned a berth and home game in the NorCal championship game in Division 7-AA. It was only the second time a Lake County football team made it to the state playoffs and the first time a county team hosted a NorCal playoff game. Though the Mustangs came up just a bit short in their bid to win a state championship, falling 22-18 to eventual state champion Redding Christian in the NorCal finals, it capped a great season for Hawkins and his teammates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A clutch performer in almost all occasions, Hawkins said his only regret during football was a pass he dropped during the team\u2019s section-clinching 37-23 win over Piedmont at Justin-Siena High School in Napa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShould have had it,\u201d said Hawkins, who admitted to taking a peek up the field before putting the ball away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hawkins jumped right into basketball once football was complete and helped Middletown capture a second straight league title, earning All-League most valuable player honors. His numbers were solid at both ends of the floor, and his numerous dunks \u2013 both one- and two-handed \u2013 energized crowds all season long. Even the occasional miss on those dunks was a sight to behold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He scored his 1,000th<\/sup> career point late during the Mustangs\u2019 19-9 season, finishing with 1,039.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat was my best moment,\u201d Hawkins said of his senior year highlights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On his numerous slam dunks throughout his career, Hawkins said his first came as a sophomore during the season-opening St. Helena Tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI missed a few,\u201d said Hawkins, who has been slamming them home since his freshman year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The son of Diana and Justin Hawkins and Middletown, Hawkins also earned first-team honors in baseball for the Mustangs as a pitcher\/utility player. Though Middletown missed the playoffs at 10-11 overall, including 6-8 in league play, the program took a step up under new coach Marc Humphrey after a number of down seasons. Hawkins led the team in numerous batting categories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hawkins plans to major in biology at Idaho.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What will he miss most about his time at Middletown?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe support from all of my coaches was great,\u201d Hawkins said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Middletown High School three-sport standout made his mark time and time again Lake County Sports on Facebook MIDDLETOWN >> Though his slam dunks during basketball season became his trademark of sorts, Middletown High School\u2019s Jon Hawkins won\u2019t be playing the one sport in college that brought the Mustangs another North Central League I championship in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6839,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[85,13,110,84,12,26,19],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6838"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6838"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6841,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6838\/revisions\/6841"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}