Smyrna High football player Wayne Knight was voted this week’s Athlete of the Week. The senior running back ran for 163 yards and four touchdowns on just 11 carries in the Eagles’ 46-6 win over William Penn in the DIAA Class 3A state quarterfinals on Friday night.

Knight scored on runs of 18, 50, 42 and 27 yards in the victory. He has run for 1,023 yards with 25 touchdowns this season while scoring six more receiving TDs.

“He’s an impressive young man,” said Smyrna coach Mike Judy. “The biggest thing, and this is what people don’t get to see, is how much of a leader he is. A bye week is really tough to get through.

“He was critical, critical to the success of keeping everybody focused and intense. Obviously his play was spectacular but his leadership was even better.”

The Athlete of the Week is nominated and chosen by our readers. The nominating period starts at 2 p.m. on Friday and ends at noon on Monday. A voting period follows from 5 p.m. Monday through 5 p.m. Wednesday.

This process is performed exclusively online. When nominating an athlete, please include name, school and sport as well as a photo and brief description of why he or she deserves that week’s honor.

All nominations must be high school varsity athletes and come from high schools within Kent or Sussex counties. The winner appears in print and online each Friday.