KFBCA Top 11: Gus Hawkins

The Kansas Football Coaches Association picked their All-State teams in early December, including the All-Class Top 11. Kansas Pregame is providing capsules for each of the Top 11 selections. Check out Mill Valley offensive lineman Gus Hawkins' capsule below. For a look at the complete 2023 KFBCA All-State teams click here.

Mill Valley made it five straight and seven of the last nine with their latest 5A state title victory over Kapaun Mt. Carmel in their late November state championship matchup.

The Jaguars have made winning state titles seem second nature at times during their reign of dominance, but there were questions for them this season.

Head coach Joel Applebee returned just five offensive starters and had to replace starting quarterback Hayden Jay and more than half of the offensive line.

Despite the key departures, it was full speed ahead for Applebee’s squad, who offensively were led by one of the top rated linemen in the state, Gus Hawkins.

“Gus is very athletic for a 6-7, 280 pound lineman,” Applebee said. “He plays very physically as well. Gus was the most dominant offensive lineman we saw all year.”

Hawkins transferred from Scott City after his sophomore season and immediately made a major impact as a junior on the Jaguar line. Prior to joining Mill Valley, Hawkins had been a standout on the basketball court as well, averaging 13.5 points and 6.7 rebounds per game as a sophomore for the Beavers.

“My parents were able to get new jobs, and they let us pick the school district we wanted to live in the KCK area,” Hawkins said. “At first, my motivation was to earn a starting spot on the football team and try to dominate the basketball scene. Once I was able to start getting DI attention in football, I knew my path was going to completely change trajectory. I ended up making a business decision to switch to offensive tackle, and now I absolutely love it.”

Hawkins’ focus helped make that business decision pay off.

“Gus was very disciplined with all his goals whether it was in the weight room, on the practice field, or in the classroom,” Applebee said. “That discipline allowed him to perform very well in all those areas.”

The junior helped clear the way for 5,454 yards of total offense in his first year with the team, helping to lead Mill Valley to a 12-1 record and a state title win over Maize and current K-State QB Avery Johnson.

Hawkins’ play earned him All-State honors and significant interest at the DI level. It was only days after the title victory that Hawkins made the decision to join Johnson and commit to Kansas State as well.

The four-star recruit, rated the 27th best offensive lineman nationally, and second overall recruit in the state of Kansas, chose KSU over Ole Miss, KU, Iowa, Iowa State, Nebraska and others.

“I decided on K-State because of offensive line coach Connor Riley,” Hawkins said. “He is the best in the business and I feel honored to play for him. With K-State, I am able to play for the best team in Kansas, as well as be quite close to home.”

Despite the attention and accolades, Hawkins focus was right where a coach would want it to be going into this fall.

“I do my job as well as I possibly can,” Hawkins said to Kansas Pregame prior to the season. “And I don’t worry about anything other than what my coach says.”

The focus Hawkins displayed was effective, with his leadership helping Mill Valley to an 11-2 season with both of their losses coming against top-ranked 6A teams.

“Gus was a tremendous leader for our program this past season,” Applebee said. “He led by example in practice as well as with his preparation.”

The Jaguars gained 5,654 yards total offense behind Hawkins and his fellow offensive linemen, including a dominant 4,663 rushing yards with two backs over 1,000 yards and four over 600.

Hawkins again received All-State honors to go with his KFBCA Top 11 nod, along with accolades from Sports in Kansas, Wichita Eagle, and others.

While at Kansas State, Hawkins plans to major in civil or industrial engineering.