Friday nights at Lazier Field are where Jace Meeks’ dream comes true. For four seasons he has lived out the fantasy he has had since childhood, playing football under Lazier’s lights with a crowd of students cheering from the stands.

“[There is] nothing like it. Just walking in, seeing all the kids, shaking all their hands and stuff. It’s just like a big dream come true,” Meeks says. “As a kid, that’s all I wanted to do.”

Although Meeks will leave Lazier behind, the experiences he had with his ETHS teammates and coaches have prepared him for the next phase of his football career: playing for McKendree University.

His work ethic, which helped earn him a spot on McKendree’s team, was inspired by several of his ETHS coaches.

“Coach Stacy [Moragne], the sophomore basketball coach, and then Coach Nib [White] … both of them just helped me grind, like they just got me in the mindset that grinding was the only option,” reflects Meeks.

When considering McKendree, Meeks wanted a team as cohesive as the one at Evanston.

“Just the vibe, just the brotherhood that we all had together [at ETHS}. Like, even when we lost, we used to just bond together and be a whole big family,” says Meeks.

Luckily, he found it.

“That’s what I was looking for in a team, just finding a real brotherhood so I can go bond with them, and they can just help me and just keep pushing me up. They push me up and I push them up, so we can be better together.”