At 3-0, Mesquite has that 'Skeeter fight' back, and the program is having fun doing it

Jeff Fleener crossed paths with Mesquite multiple times when he was an assistant at South Garland and Allen. Each time, he had a singular takeaway.

"It didn't matter," Fleener recalled, "it was going to be a dog fight from the beginning to the end."

That tough, hard-hitting Mesquite aura wasn't there when Fleener walked through the doors in 2017 as the school's new head football coach. Before then, the last time Fleener saw Mesquite was the second round of the 2012 playoffs, when an undefeated Skeeters team lost to Allen. After that, Mesquite went 15-26, including a 3-7 season in 2016.

"When I got here, when I realized a little bit of that Skeeter fight had gotten lost along the way," Fleener said. "We wanted to bring back that mentality that win or lose, you're going to remember that feeling when you play us."

There's still work to be done, but so far, Mesquite's first three weeks are worth remembering. The Skeeters are one of 21 6A teams in the area to start of undefeated, beating Lake Highlands, Grand Prairie and Plano West. Senior running back Ladarius Turner, after a 1,200-yard season a year ago, is off to another good start, rushing for 228 yards and four touchdowns in three games. Mesquite's passing defense is second best among 6A teams in the area, so far.

Mesquite is coming off a playoff appearance a year ago -- a 48-13 loss to Waco Midway -- but Fleener says this season is one his team has built toward. These seniors were freshmen when Fleener was hired in the spring of 2017. Back then, Fleener realized if he wanted to rebuild this program, he'd need to recruit his own school's players, against other schools inside Mesquite ISD and inside his own school. Fleener said he could identify eight players on other varsity teams when he arrived that were originally on a path to Mesquite, but moved before high school.

Fleener knew he had to make Mesquite a program people wanted to play for one day. That meant making it fun.

"We had to work hard to become a better football team but at the same time we needed to make sure football was fun and there was no other option because we were having fun around here," Fleener said.

That includes letting each position group have their own nicknames -- there's the playmakers, boss hogs and the gunslingers, to name a few -- and having team dinners every Wednesday with music.

"Anytime food is involved you get the most competition you've ever had," Fleener said.

The most fun thing, however, is winning. And that's all Mesquite has done so far this season.

On Twitter: @JoeJHoyt