CENTER, Texas — The Meeks family has carried Texas high school football teams to success for decades, and Center High School is the latest to hop on the winning path.
Roughrider Head Coach Ricky Meeks, son of East Texas High School Coaches Hall of Famer Dickey Meeks, has led Center to a 5-0 start to their season before their first district game against Carthage on Friday.
Center hasn't had a start this dominant since 2012-13, and Meeks is attributing the success to his players mental growth, more than their physical.
"At the end of the day, they're worried about coming out victorious, and not necessarily what I personally achieved," Meeks said. "That's the recipe for a lot of success."
The recipe was written up by Meeks dad, who left him four quotes to coach by before passing away in 2020. The Center coach keeps the quotes on his desk, and framed in his office as his keys to success.
"That's something right there that can fit any circumstance for anybody, it doesn't have to just be athletics, doesn't have to just be this or that," Meeks said.
The words center around being grounded, and growing the players into men.
"They, pay attention to detail. They do the little things correctly," Meeks said. "They do not worry about things way out in front of them. They don't worry about things that's happened in the past. They're not selfish."
Center is going to have to pay attention to all the little details and more as they prepare for their biggest matchup of the year Friday against Carthage. The Bulldogs haven't lost since week one, and have a high-powered offense that has outscored opponents by 208 points this season.
It's a challenge Meeks believes his team is more than ready for.
“You've prepared the way that you needed to prepare. So you've earned the right to to have this challenge”, Meeks said. "We've got to stay within our mindset of what's, you know, gotten us to this point and just continue with that.”
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