Neely's four picks power Wildcats homecoming romp

Washington senior defensive back Micah Neely pulled down an interception in the first quarter of the Wildcats 83-7 win over Harmon, one of four picks he had in the game.

Micah Neely spent the week studying film and it paid off on Friday night.

The Washington senior intercepted four passes and returned two of them for touchdowns as the Wildcats beat Harmon 83-7 at the homecoming game. It was the first see-your-breath game of the year, with temperatures dropping into the mid-40s by game time.

Harmon opens strong

Harmon put together an impressive opening drive that had the Washington defense back on its heels. Ja’Vontae Sanders returned the opening kickoff to the Harmon 34, and the visitors needed just eight plays to cover the remaining 66 yards.

Justin Simms carried the load. He ran four times for 19 yards on the drive, including a 16-yard burst to the Washington 33. Then he caught a pass and broke tackles for 22 yards until an ankle tackle stopped him at the Washington 9.

Two plays later, Adrian Lopez found Sanders for a 10-yard touchdown at 8:36 of the first quarter. Lopez completed all three of his passes on the drive, and Dorian Trujillo’s kick made it 7-0.

That opening drive ended a long drought for Harmon.

“I’m really proud of Harmon,” Washington head coach Camron Smith said. “So that’s actually the first time they scored on us since 2019.” Smith called it an “amazing first drive by Harmon.”

Washington senior receiver CamRon Fields rushed for one touchdown and had two receiving touchdowns in the game.

Washington answers

Washington needed 10 plays to answer. The drive survived a false start, a holding call, and a shovel-pass touchdown that a penalty wiped out. CamRon Fields scored from the 1 at 5:00, and Leonidus Alexander ran in the two-point conversion for an 8-7 lead.

“That first drive we came out offensively down for the first time in a long time, and then we ended up having a bunch of penalties, but we worked our way down the field and made it happen and got in the end zone,” Smith said.

Harmon’s next drive started at the Washington 30 after a long kickoff return by Abdiweli Mohamed. It ended when Neely intercepted a fourth-down pass at the Washington 6 with 2:09 left in the quarter. Washington then went 94 yards in six plays. Benito Morell hit Alexander for a 46-yard touchdown as the quarter ended, and Morell’s kick made it 15-7.

Five touchdowns in the second quarter

Allen Young opened the second quarter with an interception, returning it to the Harmon 12. Fields caught a 12-yard touchdown pass on the next play, and Alvin Riley ran in the two-point try for a 23-7 lead.

Harmon fumbled on its first play after the ensuing kickoff, and Calvin Williams-Coats recovered at the Harmon 23. Riley scored on a 12-yard run two plays later. Fields added a 23-yard touchdown catch on a crossing route at 4:21.

Then Neely took over. He returned an interception for a touchdown at 2:59, making it 44-7. He picked off another pass at the Harmon 48 with 1:15 left, and Khaliel Burns-Bey ran 44 yards around right end for a touchdown three plays later. Washington led 50-7 at halftime.

Washington junior Zayvion Hayslett celebrated after scoring a touchdown on a fumble recovery.

Defense and special teams keep scoring

Washington recovered a short kickoff to open the second half, and Burns-Bey scored from the 23 three plays later. A Harmon fake punt was blown up at the Harmon 9, and Joel Arthur scored on a 9-yard sweep on the next play. A second fake punt went worse for Harmon. The ball came loose, and Zayvion Hayslett returned it for a touchdown with 44 seconds left in the third quarter.

Neely’s second pick-six came at 9:47 of the fourth quarter and made it 76-7. Tim Phillips closed the scoring with a 9-yard run up the middle at 4:56, after Washington recovered another Harmon fumble.

Burns-Bey ran 10 times for 169 yards and two touchdowns. Fields caught five passes for 76 yards and scored three touchdowns. Morell completed 8 of 11 passes for 165 yards and three touchdowns, and he made seven of eight extra-point kicks.

Washington scored on all nine of its offensive possessions and outgained Harmon 415 yards to 104. The defense and special teams collected eight turnovers from the Hawks.

Smith looks ahead to playoffs

The win lifted Washington to 5-2. The Wildcats have beaten their five KCK opponents by a combined 317-13. Both losses came against teams from outside the city: 23-20 to Labette County and 35-0 to Pembroke Hill last week.

Smith said he talked about resiliency all week after the team failed to show it against Pembroke Hill. He carried a similar message to his players at midfield after the game.

“Take your win, have a good night, and enjoy yourself. But if we don’t show up the same way for the rest of the season, this doesn’t matter,” Smith said. “It’s just another Washington team that put up a bunch of points and bullied everybody, and then when they got against somebody that was on their level, they got punched in the mouth and laid down.”

“Don’t let this be another year where you leave meat on the bone and the season ends,” he said.

He had one more instruction for the night. “No disrespect tonight on the internet. Don’t get out there talking crazy. Game is over. We’ll move on to the next one.”

“We’ve just been preparing on a whole other level,” Smith said of this season. The coaches have been taking a deeper dive, he said, “making sure we’re getting every single piece of information and intel that we can out of film.”

The team has also put “a big emphasis on defense, special teams, the O line play,” Smith said. “It can’t just be a passing game.”

Neely: “I came in this game prepared”

Smith singled out Neely during his talk at midfield. “Micah, I don’t know, bro. I’m going to have to check the record books, bro. Four interceptions in a game!”

Neely was still riding the moment after the game. “It was just ecstatic, man. I’m not going to lie, it was ecstatic,” he said. “I just came in the game with a lot of energy.”

“I came in this game prepared,” Neely said.

He wasn’t doing it alone. “I’ve got confidence in my D line, man. They’re always going to cause pressure.”

He has bigger goals for this team. “I feel super confident. We can play. We can make a playoff run. We’ve definitely got it in us.”

Getting ready for tougher opponents in the playoffs comes down to practice and leadership, Neely said. “Talking, communicating, all that. You just got to keep talking.”

Micah Neely posed with head coach Camron Smith after the game.

A homecoming tribute

Senior Alvin Riley was crowned homecoming king at halftime. Riley ran for a touchdown and a two-point conversion and caught a 29-yard pass.

Washington alumnus Smith marked homecoming night in his own way, wearing a custom Washington letter jacket Friday night with his nickname “Coach Cam I Am” on the back.

His late mother, Hattie Smith, offered to buy him a letter jacket when he played, but there was a problem. “For some reason I didn’t like the Wildcat they put on the back, so I didn’t get it,” he said.

Friday was two years to the day since she passed away.

“Wearing this jacket tonight, with my old badges on there from when I played and then my new badges as a coach, just a dedication to her,” Smith said. “[I] just appreciate her letting me play the game and follow me everywhere the game took me.”