Modesto coach Mew reflects on football journey ahead of WAC opener against alma mater

Trevor Mew remembers the first high school football game he watched live.

As a middle school student in Ceres, he wanted to see the big boys play, so he watched the best show in town: Ceres High varsity football. He knew after watching that game and seeing starting quarterback Derrick Goblirsch perform, that's exactly what he wanted.

Now, after looking up to Goblirsch, Mew will coach against him. After having his own successful high school career at Central Valley and working his way to the Davis High head coach, Mew will lead the Spartans against his alma mater Friday night in the Western Athletic Conference opener.

The Spartans have been members of the WAC for five years, but the Hawks just re-joined the league after realignment. Friday's game is the first Spartan-Hawks matchup since 2017 and Mew's first as Davis head coach. The Hawks' last season in the WAC was 2017. They spent the last five full seasons in the Central California Conference. Both teams enter Friday's contest 1-2.

In typical coach fashion, Mew said it is just another game. "It's Week 4 for us," he said. "It's cool to play those guys but we've just got to worry about the opponent and let the rest take care of itself."

The players have to know, though, right? Did they mention getting a win for Mew against his alma mater?

"I mean, not really," said Mew, who graduated Central Valley in 2009. "It's a long time ago. I'm just an old man now."

Mew was just a kid, but he recalls that as sixth-grade elementary student body president at Don Pedro Elementary, he was allowed to help pick the school mascot and school colors.

When he got to high school, he was part of Central Valley's first four-year graduating class. When he joined the new, shiny Central Valley High in 2005 as a freshman, a group of sophomores from Ceres High also moved to Central Valley.

"We really didn't know what to expect," Mew said of starting high school. "A lot of times, that's how freshmen learn — by being around the upperclassmen. And we just didn't have that. There was no culture established. So it was a little different. We did what we thought we were supposed to do and we made some really good friendships and relationships, and still talk to a lot of those people to this day."

Mew had a successful career as a three-sport athlete at Central Valley.

His freshman year, he played junior varsity football and basketball because the school did not have varsity sports. The next three years, he was a varsity athlete, learning as he went along and forming into a polished quarterback and an all-league basketball player. His senior year, he ran track.

Mew never played quarterback before high school. He said he was actually a basketball player and recalls playing lineman and linebacker in Pop Warner. But under the guidance of then-Central Valley head coach Tim Garcia, by his senior season, he turned into a star who passed for 2,957 yards and tossed 29 touchdowns to just eight interceptions. After his senior year, he played in the historic Central Valley Lions All-Star Game.

"One of my friends said, 'Hey you can throw it, you should try it out,'" Mew recalled. "They were asking who wanted to play quarterback and I tried it. I didn't have any bad habits and didn't have any good habits, either. I was able to learn the right way from the beginning. And it helps to have someone like coach Garcia, who had a whole bunch of success, teaching it."

Tim Garcia was Mew's only football coach. Garcia coached the school's first junior varsity team in 2005 and moved on to the varsity team the next year. That's where the mentorship started.

"I met Tim Garcia when I was 14 years old and he disciplined us, he held us accountable, and that was something I thrived in," Mew said. "I was never the fastest kid, the most athletic, the most talented. Everything he taught me was what I knew."

Fast forward to when Mew started his coaching career and Garcia brought him on staff at Davis High School. Mew spent his first seven seasons as the Davis junior varsity head coach and offensive coordinator. Garcia promoted him to varsity offensive coordinator before handing over the reins in summer 2023.

"He's seen what we've evolved to and where we're at as a program, and it's really neat for me to be able to hand the keys over to him knowing that we've been together for almost 20 years," Garcia told The Bee in June 2023. "There's nobody else that I would want to take over the football program at Davis because I know he believes in what we've done the last 12 years."

The paths Mew and Goblirsch took to get to Friday's game are eerily similar.

After successful high school careers, both grey-shirted at MJC. Mew went on to play at Merced College. They both became coaches and are hoping to lead their respective teams through the WAC schedule and to the playoffs.

"I feel like he kind of understands my path and my journey, we kind of lived the same thing," Mew said. "It's cool to see where he's at, where I'm at. I'm glad that he's doing a great job over there at my alma mater, which is always good to see. We're both Ceres kids, so I want nothing but the best for him and the school."

Davis battled injuries last season but won four of its last five WAC games, finishing with a 4-3 league record, barely missing the playoffs. This season, the Spartans opened the season with a statement win over Hilmar but are looking to right the ship after a pair of losses.

Mew said the Spartans' offensive line has impressed him through the first three games. The senior-led group has been the backbone of the team's offense.

"We can't do anything without them," he said.

Davis enters the WAC opener after a perfectly-timed bye week. It allowed junior tight end and defensive lineman Zane Gerbo time to recover from injury and recharged sophomore quarterback Caleb Zaragoza and senior leading rushers Ezekiel Suarez and Izmael Sanchez.

"It should be an exciting game," Mew said. "They're well coached. I have a lot of respect for Derrick and his brother Clint. I followed him, looked up to him, so it's kind of cool to get to coach against him at this point."