By Andy Walter

SMYRNA — Ever since it won its first Division I state crown in 2015, Smyrna High has usually been among the best football programs in Delaware.

On the other hand, the Eagles haven’t reached the state finals since 2017, when they made their third title-game trip in a row.

Smyrna would like to change that.

“We want to play the last game,” said Eagles’ coach Mike Judy. “If there’s a possible last game, we want to be in it. That’s a given for us. We want to be there.

“Whether we’re good enough to do that or not, there’s a lot of layers to that. I think we definitely have a talented enough team to do that, but we’ll worry about that as we get going.”

There’s no reason to think Smyrna won’t be a prime contender to capture the first state championship in the newly-created Class 3A this fall.

First, the Eagles have to head up to Bergen Catholic, N.J. on Saturday for a 2 p.m. season opener against the 10th-ranked team in the country.

That herculean task notwithstanding, though, Smyrna looks like it has all the right ingredients for its high-octane offense to put up big numbers again most Friday nights.

The Eagles already returned two of the state’s top playmakers in brothers Wayne (Sr.) and Yamir Knight (Jr.) at running back and receiver, respectively. So when they added arguably the most highly-recruited quarterback the program has ever had in junior Cameron Edge, it’s easy to see why Smyrna fans are excited.

Edge is the Smyrna resident who spent the last two seasons playing at DeMatha Catholic in Washington, D.C. The 6-foot-1, 205-pounder returns to his hometown team with a long list of college scholarship offers and some high expectations.

While he’s still got to prove himself, MaxPreps has already dubbed Edge the top high school football player in the state this year.

That should make the Eagles’ Harvest Bowl showdown with Middletown on Sept. 17 all the more interesting considering that South Carolina-bound QB Braden Davis has returned to the Cavaliers after a season in Florida.

Judy said, more than anything, Edge has just been enjoyable to be around.

“It’s a really good situation for everybody,” said Judy. “It’s a lot easier to go to practice when you see them smiling and having fun. It makes the days really fly by.”

Along with the Knight brothers, center Evan Blauer (Jr.) was a second-team All-Henlopen North pick, offensive tackle Tyler Downward (Sr.) made honorable mention and guard Shane Drobinski (Sr.) is another experienced lineman. Veteran receiver Devin DeMoe is also back.

On defense, Dwayne Ratcliffe was a first-team All-North defensive end last fall. Linebacker Nate Lesniczak (Sr.) and defensive backs Troy Hicks (Sr.), Kevin Woodruff (Sr.), Pat Crutchfield (Sr.) and Chris Galban (Jr.) also return.

“I’m very happy with where they are,” Judy said about his players overall. “I’m looking forward to seeing some of the older, proven guys do their thing — to do what they’re capable of — and I’m looking forward to some new, young faces being in the spotlight. They’re going to surprise some people.”

There are times when Smyrna’s defense seems like an afterthought compared to its offense. More often than not, however, the Eagles’ defense coming up with stops has been the deciding factor in some of Smyrna’s biggest victories.

A year ago, the Eagles fell to Sussex Central, 38-34, in the Division I state semifinals when they couldn’t stop the Golden Knights’ last-second, game-winning drive. It was their only loss in a seven-game season.

That painful setback gave Smyrna’s players plenty of off-season motivation.

“We don’t like losing,” said Judy. “We took the loss the right way. We didn’t get all mad at each other, we got frustrated with ourselves for that game.

“It’s not really a revenge, get-back-at-somebody type of situation. It’s more like, don’t ever let that happen again. ... We don’t ever want to let ourselves down like that again.”