A New Dynasty Begins

By: Romaire Curry

From leading Northwest Middle School to 7 straight winning seasons and 3 straight undefeated to helping lead the Washington Wildcats football to a 6-3, league champion season. The KCKAL Coach of the Year Camron Smith is on the road to becoming one of the best coaches in Washington High School history.

Camron Smith tried applying for the head coaching job at Washington multiple times but wasn’t hired until the fourth time. He had coached at Northwest Middle School as an assistant coach for 3 years.  He then became the head coach for the football, basketball, and even wrestling teams. He even went up to Wyandotte High School for 3 years in basketball as the JV coach and 1 year for football as the Offensive Coordinator and OL coach. He even applied for F.L. Schlagle’s opening in 2018 but didn’t get the job there either. All those moments helped lead Coach Smith back home to his alma mater.. They had a great start opening the season with two wins for the first time since 2008, defeating Atchison 40-14 and topping Harmon 33-12. Homecoming wasn’t as sweet as they dropped one against Lincoln Prep making them 2-1 but they finished the first half of their season off with a 3-1 record after dominating Sumner Academy in a game that was stopped due to thunder storms in the 3rd quarter winning 45-12.

The start of their second half of the season came with a devastating loss yet thrilling battle against Shawnee Heights but they finished their season strong going 6-2 in the regular season and becoming the Undefeated league champions after stifling  the Schlagle Stallions for the first time in six years winning 42-6 and beating Wyandotte 26-18. The finished the regular season with a shutout against Turner 55-0. “Washington should always be league champions. I’m proud of my players for being dedicated to the process.” said Coach Smith 

During the season, Coach Camron Smith was also recognized by the Kansas City Chiefs as the Coach of the Week for Week 8. He’s always been a Kansas City Chiefs fan and was grateful for receiving the recognition of the Kansas City Chiefs organization. Along with being recognized by the Kansas City Chiefs, he also was declared the KCKAL Coach of the Year. “It feels amazing because I was looked at as just a middle school coach and used that as self motivation. But it was also unsettling because with the success that the team has had, I Feel that the team could of done a lot more this year.” Coach Smith said. Not only did Coach Smith get recognized by  KCKAL but Tywan Mutri was named Defensive Player of the Year, Thomas Anderson was named Most Valuable Player of the year and Offensive Player of the Year, and along with Thomas and Tywan. 7 other players were named All-KCKAL 1st team (Markeith Grayson Jr.-WR, Quincy Spencer- OL, Romaire Curry-OL, Dominic Jacobs-DE, Willie Jasper-DE & P, Willie Fields-LB, and Areet Cazares-K) with three other players being Honorable mentions (Adrian Elmore Jr.-LB, Tywan Muturi-WR, Daniel Brown-DL).

Coach Smith and the boys all had on goal in mind. Going to state and becoming the first Kansas City KSHSAA state champions. But in the way of their mission, was Blue Valley Southwest in the first game of the playoffs. It wasn’t an easy week to practice due to the weather being very cold and even snowing during practice. They felt like they were ready to earn Washington it’s first playoff win in football ever in school history. But sadly, Blue Valley Southwest played their best game of the season and ended the Wildcats season early.

Although it was a sad ending, it was also a lesson learned from all the players and coaches on what is needed to be done next season. One thing is for certain this is the beginning of a new dynasty for Washington Wildcat Football?