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CVs Mejia dominates in football
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Erik Mejia - photo by DALE BUTLER/Courier file photo

Central Valley High School varsity football leader Scott Edwards held a special meeting leading up to the Western Athletic Conference year-end coaching meeting.

Edwards sought input from his assistants in an effort to determine which Hawk players he'd nominate for WAC recognition.

"As a staff, we sat down and ranked our guys," he said. "Erik Mejia was our best player. He played an extremely physical brand of football."

The senior lineman was unanimously named Most Valuable Player in a vote by the league's head coaches on Nov. 15 in Patterson.

Mejia became the first player in program history to win the award.

"I tried to have an impact on both sides of the ball," Erik said. "I think I achieved that."

Mejia also earned first-team all-WAC honors for his dominance at left tackle on offense and right tackle on defense.

Erik tallied 18 tackles, one sack, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery in conference play.

He also helped block for Central Valley's all-conference rushing duo of Jonathan Barragan and Gerardo Solorzano.

Barragan and Solorzano totaled 907 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Mejia led Central Valley to new heights in 2016.

The Hawks captured their first conference title.

Central Valley, which had a program-best 9-2 overall record and participated in the playoffs for the second consecutive season, won all five of its WAC games.

The Hawks also reeled off a team-record eight straight victories.

Mejia collected 42 tackles, four sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery on the year.

"I had a blast playing, especially with this group of guys," he said. "We had a lot of great players. We had a great connection. We all worked hard. It was amazing."

Mejia was selected to the WAC First Team as a junior.

He started at tackle on defense.

Erik welcomed the challenge of being a two-way player this year.

"I trained all summer to try to get in better condition," he said. "It was difficult. But I met my expectations. Everything clicked. Football is my passion. I definitely want to play at the next level. I have a few options."