At 6-foot and 175 pounds, Zac Erba isn’t the typical center on a high school football team. Then again, Erba, a senior at Warsaw Community High School, isn’t the typical athlete – or student. “Zac is the poster child for what we want the kids in our program to be,” said WCHS football coach Phil Jensen. “I always preach son, student, athlete. Zac is a great son, a great student and a great athlete. He gets the most out of his ability in every thing he does. His work ethic in every aspect of life is second to none.” Zac Erba is a three-sport athlete, playing football in the fall, wrestling in the winter, and competing as a thrower on the track team in the spring. “The number of three-sport athletes has really dropped,” said Scott Erba, Zac’s father and a track and cross country coach at WCHS. “All the practices and games and matches and meets required to be a three-sport athlete, and all that on top of your school work. It’s not easy.” When he’s not on the gridiron, wrestling mat or in the shot put or discus ring, Zac Erba is commited to his studies. In the classrom, where he achieved a perfect score on the math portion of both the ISTEP and SAT, Zac Erba carries a 13.2 Grade Point Average on a 12.0 scale and is currently ranked second in his class of 474 students. After high school, he will attend Rose Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, where he will study mathematics, play football and compete as a thrower on the track team. Thursday night in South Bend, Zac Erba received the Scholar-Athlete Award for the Moose Krause Chapter of the National Football Foundation. Consider Zac Erba a Tiger earning its stripes. His hard work and commitment to academics and athletics is paying off, and he will receive $2,000 per year for four years. Mishawaka’s Michael Furfaro was awarded a $1,000 scholarship, while Fairfield’s Darien Lee Hochstetler and Plymouth’s Calvin Eads were awarded $500 scholarships. “It’s very humbling,” Zac Erba said of the award. “The field of applicants was incredible, and every person was very deserving. All the hard work is paying off, and it’s reassurance that I’m headed in the right direction.” Zac Erba was also named an Indianapolis Star Academic All-Star. He has received Academic All-State honors in all three sports. As a junior on the football team, he was blocking for a quarterback and running back that were each at least two inches taller and 25 pounds heavier; and he received All-Area honors for his effort. As a senior, he was All-Northern Lakes Conference and All-Area. As a wrestler, Zac Erba was the sectional runner-up in 2009, and this past season was the conference and sectional champion, regional runner-up and fifth-place finisher at the semistate. In four years of competing in track, he is already a two-time mental attitude award winner. Couple all that with his academic prowess, and yes, Zac Erba is certainly headed in the right direction. “I love a challenge,” said Zac Erba. “And I’m excited about the challenges ahead of me.”
