KANSAS CITY, KAN. — The video game numbers that Washington put up against Atchison on Friday seemed like the Wildcats were playing on ‘Easy’ mode.  

There were no stopping the Wildcats on Friday as they scored 61 first half points and cruised to an 82-44 victory over Atchison. It was the first victory over the defending Meadowlark Conference champions since 2019 and catapults them to the top of the conference standings.  

Washington is now 5-0 and is off to its best start since the 2004 season when the Wildcats began the year with six straight victories.  

It also marked the Wildcats’ first victory over Atchison since 2019 and avenged a 55-6 loss to the Phoenix last season. This season, there was no doubt as they upended the 4-time defending league champion.  

“This was huge for us,” Washington coach Camron Smith said. “The last time we beat them was in 2019 and this is the last time we will play them for awhile. I told those boys that since Atchison is moving down to 3A, that none of these guys will probably play Atchison again. This was their one shot and they went and got it. This win means everything.” 

Washington quarterback Savion Stone, who has put up impressive numbers all season, saved his best for Atchison. Stone put together a record-breaking performance as the Phoenix defense didn’t have an answer. 

Stone recorded a school-record nine touchdowns and racked up 482 yards of total offense. The Wildcat senior currently has 30 touchdowns through five games to go along with more than 2,000 yards of total offense. 

“It has kind of exceeded my expectations,” Stone said of his season. “But I knew what I was coming into this season and I knew what I had to do. I just have to execute. We all want to win that week nine game and that is what matters to us at the end of the day. We just have to take it game by game and we did that (Friday).” 

Stone has meant a lot to the Wildcat program the last couple of seasons as they have worked their way back to the top of the conference standings.  

“I had a college coach ask me what position I think Savion will play in college,” Smith said. “I told them he is a quarterback. He has been a quarterback since he has been here and he is an absolute freak. He has the speed, he has the arm and he is going to change whatever program he goes to. He is absolutely dynamic.” 
 

As 'Easy' as the Wildcats made it look Friday, it has been anything but for Smith and his team the last five seasons. 

Smith took over the Washington program in 2019 and helped the Wildcats to a successful 6-3 season and was excited for the future. Unfortunately, the COVID pandemic crushed those dreams in a big way. 

The Wildcats’ 2020 season was cancelled and players lost interest in the program. It was a tough few years for Washington that included losing seasons in 2021 and 2022. The Wildcats squeaked above .500 in 2023, before putting together a 6-3 season as year ago. 

“We have worked so hard to get to this point,” Smith said. “That Covid year really hurt us having to sit out that whole year. We had built something special in 2019 and we had something crazy coming in for 2020. Not getting to show that — it hurt. We lost a lot of talent, a lot of kids transferred out and didn’t trust the process and I understood that. We have been able to rebuild in the last few years and being at the top of this conference now means a lot of things.” 

There wasn’t much defense in the contest, but Washington got a pair of early stops that helped the Wildcats pull away early. A total of 46 points were scored in the first quarter between the two teams, but the Wildcats were able to get out to a two-score lead. 

Atchison’s Leighton Boldridge opened the game with a touchdown run to give Atchison an 8-0 advantage, but the Wildcats scored 22 unanswered points to take the lead and they wouldn’t give it up. 

“We were confident in our game plan,” Smith said. “I told my defense if you can get us stop in two of the first three drives that we were going to be good and they did that. After that, we just ran our offense. We know our offense is high-powered. A lot of people say that we don’t play anybody and they don’t want to give us high rankings. This offense is one of the most talented offenses that I have ever seen.” 
 

Along with Stone, CamRon Fields had a big game of his own. Fields finished with 149 yards rushing and two scores, which included a 93-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. He also had 118 yards receiving and two touchdowns, which included a 66-yard catch and run for a score. 

The Atchison duo of Yogi Purdy and Boldridge tried to keep the Phoenix in the game. Boldridge had two touchdown runs, while Purdy, the Atchison quarterback, had three total scores, including two on the ground. 

The Wildcats led 61-28 at halftime and never looked back. If Washington wins out, it will be crowned the Meadowlark champion.  
 

“This feels really good,” Stone said. “We haven’t been able to beat them in my whole high school career, so to come out on top like this and have such a big win feels great. I know all my teammates feel the same way as I do, which is we put ourselves in a good position to win the league. We just have to continue this for the rest of the season.” 

As for what the future of Washington football holds, Smith is excited — not just for this year — but the years to come.  

“We have our youth feeder programs, we had our middle school teams out here tonight and we are building from the ground up,” Smith said. “I think Washington football is going to be amazing here in the next few years.” 

WASH 30 31 15 8 — 82 

ATCH 16 12 8 8 — 44 

SCORING SUMMARY 

First Quarter 

A: Leighton Boldridge 5 run (Boldridge run) 

W: CamRon Fields 7 run (Fields run) 

W: Savion Stone 6 run (2-point fails) 

W: Fields 93 run (Stone run) 

A: Boldridge 4 run (Boldridge run) 

W: Kahliel Burns-Bay 20 run (Stone run) 

Second Quarter 

W: Jamari Willliams 50 pass from Stone (2-point fails) 

W: Stone 5 run (2-point fails) 

A: Yogi Purdy 11 run (2-point fails) 

W: Stone 60 run (2-point fails) 

W: Fields 66 pass from Stone (Hector Plantillas kick) 

A: Noah Martin 65 pass from Purdy (2-point fails) 

W: Stone 20 run (kick failed) 

Third Quarter 

W: Alvin Riley 1 pass from Stone(Stone run) 

A: Purdy 43 run (Purdy run) 

W: Fields 48 pass from Stone (Plantillas kick) 

Fourth Quarter 

A: Xavier Gayden 90 kickoff return (Dexter Greenly run) 

W: Stone 68 run (Stone run) 

Turner snaps 37-game losing streak  

It had been a long time since any of the current Turner players saw themselves on the winning side of the scoreboard.  

All that changed on Friday. 

The Golden Bears hosted KIPP Legacy (Mo.) High School and came away with a convincing 42-0 victory to snap a 37-game losing skid. It also marked the first home victory for Turner since 2017. 
 

“It meant a ton to everybody, but you could tell how much it meant to our seniors,” Turner coach Shelby Steffen said. “They have come in and battled and put in so much work to improve every single day. The last win Turner High School had was when these guys were eighth-graders, so they had never experienced a win.  

“We have spent so much time talking about believing in what we are doing and having the mindset and confidence to go out and win a football game. It was a great win for our team and a great win for our community.” 

The Turner offense put together a big performance with 275 yards rushing to go along with four touchdowns. Michael Estes led the way with 125 yards rushing and some nice blocks from his offensive line of Durrell Thomas, Brandon Marshall, Fares Flores, Logan Minich and Chevy Mendoza.  

MJ Allen led the Golden Bear defense as he had an interception and a fumble recovery. 

“Overall, we played pretty well, our offensive line dominated from start to finish, something I take so much pride in as they are my guys I get to coach every day,” Steffen said. “The improvement they have made in two years is night and day different. We had six different touchdown scorers on Friday and that credit goes to Coach Brecheisen who had a great gameplan going in. We made some mistakes we need to clean up but we overcame a lot of those with effort.  

“Defense pitched a shutout for the first time since 2017. Coach Sheets did a great job of getting our guys in positions to make plays. We told our guys to enjoy it for the weekend as we have another chance to make history on Friday and get our first ever UKC win.” 

Other football standouts:  

• Olathe West made school history on Thursday as the Owls earned their first-ever win over Gardner-Edgerton in a 49-21 victory over the Blazers. Owl quarterback Brody Hale threw for 316 yards and four touchdowns in the win. Wide receiver Sam Krzykowski had a team-high 8 catches for 120 yards and two scores. Running back Josh Foland also had a big day with 179 total yards and three touchdowns. Gardner running back Syre Padilla had 168 yards rushing and a touchdown.  

• Wyandotte broke a 16-game losing streak as the Bulldogs earned a 28-21 victory over Harmon. Juan Pablo Jimenez had a big night for the Bulldogs as he carried the ball 40 times for 250 yards rushing to help give Wyandotte their first win since week five of the 2023 season. As for Harmon, it got a big performance from David Hardin who had 10 carries for 153 yards and two touchdowns, which included a 91-yard score.  

• Schlagle got back in the win column as the Stallions took down Sumner Academy, 32-28 in a game that went down to the wire. Schlagle running back Cincere Lewis had 17 carries for 256 yards and three touchdowns in the win. Lewis scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 31-yard score with two minutes left in the game.  

• St. Mary’s Colgan continued its dominance Friday as the Panthers cruised to a 55-6 victory over Uniontown to move to 5-0 on the season. The No. 2 ranked Panthers got another big game from Klayton Adamson. The Colgan running back needed just six carries to rack up 214 yards on the ground to go along with four touchdowns. Quarterback Will Schremmer also had two touchdowns through the air, both to Brady Crossland. 

• St. Thomas Aquinas, the No. 1 team in Class 5A, took down rival Bishop Miege in a 43-14 victory. Once again, senior running back Calin Arndt continues to run through his opponents. Arndt had 288 yards rushing on 36 carries to go along with three touchdowns. 

• Mill Valley asserted its dominance Friday over Shawnee Mission Northwest in a 56-24 victory. The No. 4 ranked Jaguars had three players rush for more for than 100 yards. Quarterback Blake Jay led the way with 129 yards on the ground and three scores, while Reggie Reece had 125 yards on 11 carries and three touchdowns. Max Piva chipped in 108 yards rushing and two touchdowns.  

• Lawrence Free State, the No. 5 ranked team in 6A, got out to an early lead over Olathe South and never looked back in a 35-21 win. Quarterback Finn Moore had 167 yards on the ground and four total touchdowns. Running back Maddon Brittingham had 112 yards rushing and also led the Firebirds with 14 tackles and a blocked field goal.  

• St. James Academy earned a 27-21 win over St. Pius X behind a 4-touchdown performance from running back Jake House. The Thunder senior carried the ball 21 times for 113 yards. 

• Blue Valley cruised to a 35-7 win over Blue Valley North behind a balanced attack. Running back Hayden Ward recorded 160 yards on the ground, while quarterback Dan Sogard had 130 yards through the air and two touchdowns. Jordan Lockett had 7 catches for 79 yards and a score. 

• Blue Valley Northwest’s LJ Bowens had 147 yards rushing and two touchdowns in the Huskies’ 27-14 victory over Blue Valley West.  

• Shawnee Mission East quarterback Jack Reeves put his team on his back as the Lancers held on for a 28-20 win over Lawrence. Reeves carried the ball 31 times for 274 yards and had all four touchdowns. Lawrence’s Tahj Edwards 110 yards rushing and a touchdown in the loss. 

• Spring Hill quarterback Jordan Miller threw for 183 yards and two touchdowns in the Broncos’ 36-7 victory over Ottawa. Hank Kotchavar also had 116 yards rushing and a score in the victory, while Brayden Bell had an interception return for a touchdown.  

• Basehor-Linwood had no problem moving to 5-0 with a 63-6 win over Topeka West. Quarterback Carson Dixon had two touchdowns through the air and the 63 points was the Bobcats’ highest scoring performance since 2017.  

• De Soto held on for a 50-48 victory over Shawnee Heights with a big offensive performance from the Wildcats where they had 576 yards of total offense. Quarterback Ben Parks had a big day with nearly 300 yards of total offense and six touchdowns.