More in Store: Dunham wide receiver Jarvis Washington thinking big in final season
by William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
The Dunham School football coach, Neil Weiner, texted his standout senior wide receiver, Jarvis Washington, following his commitment to South Alabama on Monday.
Washington was a key member of the Tigers’ team that fell just short in last year’s Division III select state championship game with Catholic-New Iberia, a 31-28 setback, that has had overtones during the offseason.
“He texted me back, thanking me for pouring so much into him,” Weiner said. “When I told him we weren’t done yet, Jarvis texted me an emoji of a trophy. That’s his focus. It’s not about him.”
That singular focus is amplified with the 6-foot-5, 195-pound Washington approaching the start of his senior season. Also, as the team’s sixth man on the Tigers’ Division III state runner-up team to Country Day in basketball, the eventual state champion.
Washington acknowledges that he’s covered plenty of ground from an aspiring basketball player to Division I wide receiver. But he’s also aware of what remains ahead, both in trying to help his school win a pair of state championships and further elevate his game on the football field, where he has visions of a career beyond college.
“My younger self would be proud of me right now,” Washington said. “I also know that I have bigger goals in life, and I’m not finished. I know the jobs not finished. We’re still trying to win state this year. I still want to advance my game to get to the next level and play at a high level. People have a mindset of just getting to the next level. It’s about being developed.”
Washington checked off an important box earlier this week with his commitment to South Alabama, the 19th member of the Jaguars’ Class of 2026. He’s the fifth wide receiver in the class, deciding on a future in the Sun Belt Conference over McNeese State and Nicholls State.
Washington earned first-team all-district and all-metro honors in 2024 following his first season with Dunham, catching 52 passes for 976 yards (18.8 per catch) and 10 touchdowns. He was a first-team all-state choice at wide receiver by the Louisiana Football Coaches Association.
“Relationships with the coaches were very strong and they showed that they wanted me there,” said Washington, who took his official visit to USA on June 27. “The visit was amazing from start to finish. The coaches guided me around, and I went with the players to fun activities. I was able to bond with the players and able to be myself. It just felt like home.”
South Alabama averaged 34.4 points and 441.8 total yards per game in 2024. The Jaguars lost to Western Michigan (30-23) in the Salute to Veterans Bowl and finished 7-6 under head coach Major Applewhite, a close friend and former teammate of Weiner’s at Catholic High.
“It’s been fun texting and talking with Major over the last few weeks,” Weiner said. “About two weeks ago, he called to check on Jarvis to see how he was doing (from a strained groin). It’s cool that one of our players is going to play for one of my former teammates.”
Washington said he was a football-first athlete as a freshman, finding himself on the sideline at times because of ill-advised decisions on his part.
That opened the door for basketball until the reality of the size of the players, coupled with the talent level, led a path back to football, where he took a more of an approach to training and development.
“I started loving it again,” Washington said. “I started to get more precise and crisper with my craft.”
Washington watched the wide receiver position intently, keeping an eye on such NFL greats and patterned his game after Calvin Ridley, Julio Jones, Justin Jefferson, and a rising star in Tetairoa McMillian.
Both Ridley and Jones were All-Americans in college at Alabama and are receivers standing 6-foot-2 or bigger, which appealed to Washington, who was starting to grow into a formidable player on the field.
Jefferson is another former first-round draft choice that’s flourished into one of the NFL’s biggest stars, while the 6-4, 212-pound McMillian was taken with the eighth pick overall in the most recent NFL draft by the Carolina Panthers out of Arizona.
“He’s a guy, when I looked at his film, I saw my game resembled his play style,” Washington said of McMillian.
Two years after beginning his career at Madison Prep Academy, Washington transferred to Dunham, where he played both football and basketball in 2024.
“Dunham definitely changed my life,” he said. “It was a better move for me holistically. It was an environment that I needed at that moment in time. It’s shaped me to become a better man. I’ve truly enjoyed my experience last year, and I can’t wait for my senior year.”
The timing of Washington’s arrival at Dunham coincided with the graduation of the team’s top two wide receivers in Jac Comeaux and Drew Bourgeois.
Comeaux, who signed with Georgetown out of high school before transferring to Southwest (Miss.) Community College was a first-team Class 2A All-State selection in 2023, while Bourgeois was another solid receiving option.
“They laid the foundation for this high-level passing attack and what they were able to do,” Washington said. “Coming in, I knew I had to step up into a greater role than I had been put in before, and it was easy with guys like Trevor Haman, Kris Thomas, Tyler Sotile, and Eason Jarreau. I was able to help get some of the attention off everybody. We had weapons all over the field, and anybody can have a good game on a particular night.”
The genesis of Dunham’s offense began with quarterback Elijah Haven, the nation’s top-rated player in the Class of 2027.
“We have a great connection on and off the field,” Washington said. “If I’m with him, I’m always smiling because he’s making me laugh. He’s a great guy that’s always humble.
“He’s very mature and goes out and competes to his fullest, and I love that,” Washington said. “I played a little basketball with him in ninth grade, and we kind of had a connection. We’ve turned that switch and locked in on the football field and have that connection. It’s something special.”
For the third time in school history, Dunham went undefeated last season.
Washington was part of a talented wide receiver corps that further enabled Haven to continue building his case for the nation’s top-rated quarterback in his class.
“If my job is to get other people open and we win a game, then I’ll do my job 100%,” Washington said. “It’s all about the win. We have anybody that can go off. We have a deep class of receivers for the next two years.”
Part of the game that Weiner and his staff, with offensive coordinator Jeff Hand, expected Washington to bring was the ability to use his body and large frame to win contested balls.
That wasn’t necessarily a hallmark of Washington’s in the early stages of his first season, but as the season progressed, there was no one better in the air than Washington, who flirted with a 1,000-yard season.
“It took a while until he got good at using his body and his height,” Weiner said. “Early on, there were a couple of jump-ball opportunities, and the timing wasn’t right. Balls that we thought he would come down with, he didn’t for whatever reason. About midway through the season, if the ball was within an eight-foot radius of him, he’s coming down with the ball. He just became dominant.
“Once he started to play up to his capabilities and saw, ‘I’m actually going to be pretty good at this thing, ’” Weiner said, “He flipped the switch from a mentality standpoint and really took pride in trying to become the best receiver he could be.”
The highlight of the season for top-seeded Dunham came in the state quarterfinals at home, rallying from a 30-13 deficit late in the third for a 34-30 victory over Lafayette Christian Academy.
The Tigers followed that with another comeback win, albeit not quite as dramatic, in a 46-22 semifinal victory over Bunkie to reach the Superdome and the state championship game for the second time in three years.
With his team trailing Catholic-New Iberia 24-14 and in need of a pivotal moment before halftime, Washington displayed his immense ability on the final play of the half.
Haven dropped back from Catholic’s 31-yard line, following a familiar script every Thursday when Dunham works on its ‘Hail Mary’ drill, lofting an attempt for the right corner of the end zone.
Washington, who had an inside position on the play, came down with the ball amid several defenders for an apparent 31-yard touchdown that would have cut the deficit to three points.
“We went through our walk-through during the week, and we could not catch it,” Washington said. “Then, when we needed to, we caught it. I wasn’t trying to lose. When I saw the ball, I just went and attacked it.”
Officials said that Washington, whose back was to the end line, had gone out of bounds on the play and ruled an incompletion.
A video review showed Washington’s left foot in bounds before going across the end line, but the ruling was upheld, and Weiner headed to the locker room without much solace.
“We do practice it, but that’s not coaching at that point,” he said. “That’s just the sheer athleticism that Jarvis has. It was a fantastic play. To catch the ball was great, and he did get a foot in. To have the presence to get his foot down and maintain the catch all the way through.
“Regardless of what the official said, it was still a fantastic play,” he said. “The official showed that he was out of bounds and waved him out, that he wasn’t in. It should have been overturned. When I asked the (head) official walking off the field, he couldn’t give me an explanation, and the call stood.”
Catholic-NI opened a 31-14 advantage in the third quarter when Dunham stormed back behind Haven’s Division III-record 300 passing yards and two touchdowns, drawing the Tigers within the final score with 3:39 to play.
Dunham’s special teams gave its offense one final opportunity to win the game when Joshua Lazard picked up a blocked punt by William Ours and returned it 16 yards to Catholic’s 18 with 1:44 remaining.
Haven kept three times for five yards, resulting in Catholic taking a timeout with 53 seconds showing, adding to the drama of a fourth-and-goal play call from the 3-yard line.
Haven rolled to his left and was intercepted in the end zone for a touchback with 46 seconds left.
“Everybody expects me to be stuck in the past on one play,” Washington said. “People that have approached me about that play have become mad about it. My coach says to keep playing, get on to the next play, and be where your feet are. You can’t do that by worrying about where my feet were.
“We had a bunch of other opportunities to win the game, and we unfortunately came up short,” Washington said. “This year we will try to get over that hump and be crisp all the way through and leave no doubt.”
Washington totaled 10 catches, one off the Division III record tied by Haman, for 151 yards and a touchdown. His first-quarter touchdown in the state final was a show of his physicality, breaking a tackle near the line of scrimmage and turning it into a score from 36 yards out for a 14-3 lead.
“I’m mad, I had a goal to try and get 1,000 yards, and it didn’t happen,” he said. “That lit a fire to go even harder and leave no doubt and maybe get at least 1,250 yards.”
Washington dealt with an equally cruel conclusion three months later.
Dunham, the No. 2 seed, advanced to the state semifinals in basketball, dropping a 54-53 decision to Country Day, the eventual state champion.
Washington was part of a deep team on a roster where seven to eight players were capable of being in the starting lineup, leaving him to come off the bench as one of the team’s reinforcements.
“I got down for a second but had to realize there’s a greater goal and that was to win,” Washington said. “We came up short. Eyes on the prize.”
Because of the extensive minutes Washington played, leading to eight points, five rebounds, and close to two steals a game, Dunham basketball coach Chad Myers considered him a starter, a role he’s expected to command this season.
“He will definitely be a starter for us this season, and we’re expecting a big year from him,” said Myers, whose team was 22-9 last season.
Washington’s preparing for two sports with excellent prospects to strike gold in both.
That’s been at the heart of the offseason for Washington, who will figure prominently into the leadership for both teams.
“I’m sure he wants the ball every time we call a pass play,” Weiner said. “The good receivers do, but at the same time, we are so balanced with some really talented players at wide receiver. Even if he does get a little extra attention, it won’t be an entire game because somebody else is going to go off and have a great game.”
Weiner believes this year’s wide receiver group, which also includes Richard Montgomery, will prove to be a nuisance to opponents.
“They complement each other well,” he said. “We have too many weapons. It’s going to be hard for a secondary to say they’re going to try and take away one guy.”
With his college decision behind him, Washington embraces the challenge of helping Dunham to its state championship in football.
“At the end of the day, the main goal is to play football and win a state championship,” he said. “The (scholarship) offers can come and go, but my main goal will be to play in the dome again and win a championship.”