Harmon, Smyth clicking for Palmyra

Kelvin Harmon knew something was different about Max Smyth after that week in Louisiana.

Smyth wasn't taller. He wasn't heavier. He wasn't sporting a new haircut, clothes style, or tattoo.

But he was changed.

"When he came back, you could see something was going on," Harmon said of his Palmyra football teammate. "He was ready to go. He was like, 'Let's do this.' "

Palmyra coach Jack Geisel said "the light went on" when Smyth attended the Manning Passing Academy in July at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, La.

Geisel thinks Smyth became a top quarterback in the summer.

Harmon already was a top wide receiver.

The combination has been lighting up the scoreboard for Palmyra. The Panthers are 4-1 entering Saturday's WJFL Freedom Division showdown with surprising Riverside, thanks in large part to the productive play of their junior standouts.

The 6-foot-3, 196-pound Smyth has thrown 15 touchdown passes, second only to Camden senior Khalil Williams among South Jersey quarterbacks.

The 6-3, 190-pound Harmon is tied for second in South Jersey with eight touchdown catches.

"They've been making a lot of plays," said Geisel, in his second year as head coach at Palmyra.

Smyth was a part-time starter at quarterback as a sophomore in 2013. But he threw for nearly 300 yards in a 28-8 win over Burlington City on Thanksgiving, then took a big step forward during workouts before this season.

"It was just hard work," Smyth said. "Every day, throwing, working out, trying to get better."

Smyth said the experience at the Manning Passing Academy was the key to his improvement.

He said he worked with counselors Jameis Winston of Florida State and Trevor Knight of Oklahoma as well as the Manning brothers.

"When I came back from there, I started working 10 times harder," Smyth said. "I realized I could do something in football."

Smyth and Harmon have been teammates for years, going back to youth football. But they've been a quarterback-receiver combination only in high school and started to mesh this season, particularly in the last three weeks.

Harmon is one of South Jersey football's top athletes. He has scholarship offers from Rutgers, Temple, and Old Dominion, with Boston College also showing heavy interest.

"He's usually the fastest player on the field," Smyth said. "He's not scared to go get the ball. I can throw it up to him, and he'll go get it."

Harmon said he has developed a strong rapport with his quarterback.

"It's the chemistry we have," Harmon said. "I can tell him what I see, and we adjust to that."

Palmyra's lone loss was by 34-20 to undefeated and 12th-ranked Holy Cross on Sept. 19. Since then, the Panthers have won three in a row, scoring a combined 130 points as Smyth has thrown 11 touchdown passes, six to Harmon.

"If I had to give him a grade, I'd say he's improved by two grades," Harmon said of Smyth.