Dawkins Proves Game in Giving Sports a Try : Prep football: Since coming to Southland from Panama, La Quinta’s running back hasn’t found a sport he doesn’t like.

Walter Dawkins of La Quinta High School excels in any game.

Whether he’s streaking across a football field to receive a pass, making an acrobatic catch in the outfield or playing the video game, Tecmo Ball, Dawkins is a natural athlete who makes every play seem easy.

Football? Dawkins is La Quinta’s leading receiver with 45 catches for 629 yards as a running back. He caught two touchdown passes in the opening round of the Division VI playoffs last week against Buena Park.

Dawkins has rushed for 378 yards and scored on a 55-yard run with 48 seconds remaining to clinch La Quinta’s 25-22 victory over Buena Park. He also plays cornerback and has intercepted two passes and recovered a fumble.

Baseball? Dawkins is a double threat as a pitcher and outfielder. Last season, he pitched a no-hitter against El Monte in the Southern Section playoffs and won the game with a home run.

He’s received recruiting letters from UC Santa Barbara, USC, Arizona, San Diego State, Loyola Marymount, Cal State Fullerton and Brigham Young University to play baseball.

And Tecmo Ball? Dawkins admitted he failed to beat teammates Craig Reynolds and Billy Boulton at the popular video game during weekly team meals, but he’s getting closer.

For the past six years, athletics have been more than just games for Dawkins. Playing was his way of adjusting to a new life when he moved from Panama City to Southern California as an 11-year-old.

“I made a lot of friends playing sports,” he said. “I also played sports to stay out of trouble.”

Dawkins had never seen a football game until he moved to Southern California. He played soccer and stick ball near the high-rise apartment building that overlooked the Panama Canal, where he lived as a youngster.

“Coming to the United States was something I really looked forward to,” Dawkins said. “Everything was bigger and faster, so it took some time to get used to. But I spoke English, so that wasn’t a problem.”

Dawkins also was excited to be reunited with his mother after a three-year absence. Dawkins lived with relatives and friends in Panama while his mother prepared for a new life in the United States.

“It was the roughest three years of my life,” he said. “I wondered if I would ever see her again.”

It wasn’t long before Dawkins developed into an all-star in the Bolsa Little League and played on a championship flag football team at the Westminster Boys Club.

Dawkins participated in three sports at La Quinta as a freshman and became a varsity starter on the football, basketball and baseball teams as a junior.

“I don’t know how I did it,” he said of his three-sport regimen. “There were times last summer when I played three games in one day in three different sports. Finally, I decided to give up basketball this year and put more time into baseball.”

Dawkins’ future is in collegiate baseball, but his immediate goal is to win the Division VI football title. La Quinta will meet host Valencia at 7:30 tonight in second-round play at Placentia’s Bradford Stadium.

Last year, La Quinta upset Valencia, 19-14, in the opening round and advanced to the finals before losing to Corona del Mar. La Quinta was the surprise team of the division, but the Aztecs were seeded second with a 10-0 record this year.

“Last year, we were peaking at the playoffs and surprised a lot of people,” Dawkins said. “We thought we had a good chance to get to the finals after we beat Valencia.

“This year is no surprise at all. We had seven defensive starters coming back and worked awfully hard during the summer. When we finished fourth out of 32 teams in a passing tournament at San Diego State, I started telling everyone that we were going to be good.”

La Quinta won 10 consecutive games, marking the first time in the school’s 27-year history that a football team finished the regular season 10-0. Dawkins said the final goal is to win the division championship.

“Last year, we were disappointed losing in the finals, but then we weren’t supposed to be there,” he said. “Now, we’re undefeated and we don’t want to come up short.”