CAMDEN — Winning a state championship is nice.

Winning two state championships over a three-year span is even better.

But still, nothing quite compares to being selected as one of the seniors to represent your school at the Blue-Gold all-star football game.

Caden Collins, the Sussex Central High First Team All-State starting center for the 2018 and 2020 DIAA state championship runs, is one of five recently graduated Golden Knights to be selected to suit up for the Gold team in this Friday night’s 65th annual DFRC Blue-Gold game at University of Delaware.

The game, which kicks off at 7 p.m., is hosted by the Delaware Foundation Reaching Citizens with intellectual disABILITIES (DFRC) and all proceeds go toward the organization.

Each player is paired with a buddy through the DFRC’s hand-in-hand program. The players and buddies will meet on the field as part of the opening ceremonies, which are slated to begin around 6 p.m.

“It’s an honor. That’s pretty much what I’ve worked for all four years, I’ve been thinking about it since my freshman year,” Collins said of the Blue-Gold game. “It’s really an honor to play in this game.”

Collins will be joined by Sussex Central teammates Alton Dennis III, P.J. Stratton, Sean McGee and Jacob Dempsey.

Dennis earned the state’s Defensive Player of the Year award after collecting 91 total tackles and 6.5 tackles for a loss in nine games (including playoffs) during the Coronavirus-shortened fall season that culminated in a 28-19 Div. I state title win over Middletown High Dec. 19.

“I’m ecstatic to be involved, and to play with all these guys we played against,” said Dennis. “It’s an honor. I’m excited to get to meet all of the buddies on Friday and it’s just a great experience.”

Dempsey collected 76 tackles, 14.0 TFL and three forced fumbles at defensive end while Stratton ran for a team-high 1,135 yards and 13 touchdowns and McGee recorded 127 yards and a touchdown on 10 catches and made 42 tackles with an interception on defense.

Dennis, Dempsey and McGee were each DIFCA First Team All-State selections on the defensive side of the ball. Stratton was First Team All-State at running back, joining Collins on the First Team offensive squad.

Stratton is glad to be spending the week with some of his Central teammates.

“I was so excited when I found out (I was chosen for Blue-Gold),” said Stratton. “Knowing my hard work paid off ... It’s great being here with my teammates. They say, ‘oh, there goes the Central pack.’ Those are my boys, we stick together.”

The Gold team, primarily comprised of senior players from downstate schools and led by Middletown head coach Zach Blum, opened practice this weekend at Caesar Rodney High School.

Last year’s event was completely canceled due to the pandemic and this year’s lead-up events between the players and the hand-in-hand buddies have primarily been remote in order to keep the kids safe, but DFRC executive director Tony Glenn has made sure the buddies and players have still interacted with each other as much as possible.

During Sunday’s practice, the Gold team had the opportunity to have a virtual dance party via Zoom with the buddies.

“So far so good,” said Blum. “It’s great to be around the guys and around the kids for a great cause. I think with missing it last year, it makes you extra cognizant of just how all this comes together.

“The DFRC staff has done a great job of doing things virtually and in fact during practice today we got a chance to log in to a Zoom meeting and we got a chance to dance around a little bit with the buddies and enjoy each other’s company through Zoom, so that was fun. It’s a great chance to be together.”