Wilkins Makes Dash for Daylight : Death of Father Prompts Transfer to Moorpark from Littlerock

Bryan Wilkins emerged from the locker room, shoulder pads in hand, with a slight wind blowing as he walked slowly toward the football practice field. It was a damp sea breeze, not the desert dry gusts of the Antelope Valley.

A change had been in the air, and the draft Wilkins felt Wednesday was only a gentle sign that it had occurred.

Wilkins, 17, had just switched high schools for the third time in three years. Two weeks ago, Littlerock High was singing his praises. Wilkins, a junior running back, had rushed for 420 yards in three games and scored all 34 of his team’s offensive points.

But Wilkins wasn’t wearing the blue No. 4 jersey of Littlerock anymore. Instead, he was wearing a green No. 20. He had transferred to Moorpark, switching teams in midseason.

Wilkins said his decision to transfer was not sudden, but it seemed that way to his former teammates. The day after he rushed for 102 yards in a 15-2 loss to Barstow, Wilkins told Coach Jim Bauer he was leaving. The following Monday, as Littlerock players filed in for practice, Wilkins was cleaning out his locker.

“They saw me, but they didn’t say anything to me,” Wilkins said. “Nobody’s called me. Coach Bauer said that he understood. If I want to come back, he’ll take me back. I think he was kind of upset.”

Bauer understood why the cornerstone of his team was checking out. Wilkins, who rushed for 1,279 yards and was an All-Golden League selection as a sophomore, moved to Littlerock in 1992 because he wanted to live with his father. On Oct. 19, 1992, his father died.

After what Wilkins described as an ongoing personality conflict with his stepmother, he decided to return to his natural mother, Angie Craig, who lives in Moorpark.

“He was attached to his team out there; he didn’t want to leave,” Craig said. “He didn’t want to live in Moorpark. I always wanted him here. I felt this is where he belonged. It’s fantastic to have him back.

“He was fine out there with his father, but we hated moving him around.”

Wilkins enrolled at Moorpark on Sept. 28, the day after he emptied his locker at Littlerock.

Within hours, the Moorpark campus was buzzing. Coach Rob Dearborn learned that a running back had been filling out papers in the front office. Some Musketeer players had seen the sinewy 6-foot, 180-pound newcomer in class.

By lunch time, the news had reached quarterback Tyler Dritz and running back Reggie Maddox. And when they saw Wilkins wandering near the cafeteria with a class list in hand, they took Wilkins under their wing.

Dearborn, eager to make Wilkins eligible for football, faxed a request for a hardship waiver to the Southern Section. Although Wilkins did not play last week, the Southern Section granted the request, and by Wednesday’s practice Dearborn was tinkering with the Moorpark offense to make room for Wilkins. Dritz and Maddox, meanwhile, had fast become friends with Wilkins as they prepared for tonight’s game at Oak Park.

Coincidentally, Wilkins was raised in Oak Park before his parents divorced. He stayed there with his mother before moving to Littlerock. In the interim, Craig moved to Moorpark.

It was as an Oak Park freshman two years ago that Wilkins appeared on the varsity football scene. He was promoted from the junior varsity at midseason and inserted at fullback on a team that finished 10-2. Wilkins said he hoped to transfer back to Oak Park, where he knows most of the players.

“But I’m happy where I am now,” Wilkins said. “It’ll be good to play them and show them what it could have been like if I stayed.”

Wilkins’ words may sound lively, but he speaks softly and without much emotion. His mother worries about the toll all the changes have taken on the youngest of her three children.

“He had a good life,” Craig said. “He had everything he wanted. But in the last year and a half he’s had to cope with a lot of things. I have the feeling he’s very happy here. But it’s been tough.”

The fact that Wilkins is a powerful and deceptive, if not exceptionally fast running back, doesn’t surprise his mother.

Craig’s former husband, Wesley Wilkins, got Bryan involved in sports early. He took karate lessons at 5 and soon branched into soccer, basketball and football. Whatever Bryan was doing, said Craig, “Wesley was right there with him.”

Wesley Wilkins was working as a videotape technician for a local television station about 18 months ago when he was diagnosed with cancer. By the start of the 1992 football season, Wesley, 49, was hospitalized. On Friday nights, instead of going out with teammates after games, Bryan was at his father’s bedside.

“I knew he was going to die,” Bryan said.

On Oct. 16, three days before his father’s death, Wilkins rushed for 106 yards in a 29-14 loss to Antelope Valley. Wilkins scored both Littlerock touchdowns on runs of 48 and 17 yards.

The following week, several Lobo players attended Wesley Wilkins’ funeral. On Friday, Littlerock trounced Burroughs-Ridgecrest, 36-6, to improve to 5-2. Bryan, dedicating all football games to his father, carried 10 times for 116 yards and scored on runs of 80 and 18 yards.

His coach never saw any emotion and gave his star credit for his leadership and strength.

“I never saw Bryan go through the grieving process,” Bauer said. “He internalized it. He did it privately. He’s a very soft-spoken, gentlemanly young man.”

His on-field actions suggests Wilkins is on a rampage this season.

Before sitting out last week while waiting for the Southern Section to approve his hardship waiver and restore Craig as his guardian of record, he led Golden League players in scoring and rushing yardage as Littlerock went 1-2.

But inside, a quiet vigil for his father continues.

“I think about how much I miss him and every game I play for him,” Bryan said. “I’m dedicating everything to him.”

Wilkins said he liked living in the Antelope Valley and playing football for Littlerock. But he gradually lost his desire to live there after his father’s death.

“I think Bryan had a positive experience in our program,” Bauer said. “If Bryan’s mom lived up here, he would still be playing with us. I hope Bryan rushes for 300 yards a game. I have great feelings for him.”

Littlerock’s loss becomes Moorpark’s gain. Musketeer players have greeted Wilkins’ arrival with quiet excitement. They’ve heard what he can do on a football field.

“No one really knows what to expect, but he’s looked good in practice,” Dritz said. “We’ve heard he’s awesome. But he doesn’t say anything about it.”

Wilkins says he’s had no trouble fitting in with his new team. In fact, the Musketeers and Lobos are quite similar.

“It’s seems like the same team, just different people,” Wilkins said.

Wilkins won’t start tonight, Dearborn said, but he will alternate with Maddox and Jose Ceja in the running back rotation.

Moorpark players will have no hard feelings if Wilkins emerges as its offensive star, Dritz said. After a 2-8 finish in 1992, the Musketeers are off to a 3-1 start and are primarily concerned with winning. So far, Maddox (40 carries, 231 yards) and Ceja (47 carries, 214 yards, four touchdowns) have carried the load in a run-oriented offense that averages 157.2 yards a game.

“I think I can gain a lot of yards,” said Wilkins, who is receiving letters from UCLA, USC, Cal and San Diego State. “When the line’s been blocking, there’s been holes there. So I can pretty much pick where I want to go.

“The team, they’re expecting me to do well in games--because of my stats. And I think after this week, they can’t wait to see me run against someone else.”