By Andy Walter

NEWARK — Smyrna High’s football players have been waiting 12 months to get this chance again.

The Eagles’ 28-22 loss to Middletown in last year’s DIAA Class 3A state finals was crushing.

“We have that wound that’s still kind of open from last year,” said Smyrna senior defensive lineman Nate Chandler. “We’re ready to put it on the line.”

But Dover has been waiting even longer.

This year’s Senators weren’t even born in 2001, the last time a Dover squad played in a football state title game. Second-year Senators coach Chip Knapp isn’t shocked that Dover has reached the finals, however.

“Earlier in the season, I said this is a team that has the ability to go to the state championship,” he said. “I stood there several times during the year and told them that.

“The coaches, we believe in them. And that gives them reason to believe in themselves, that they deserve to be in the state championship.”

Only one of the two Kent County squads will be celebrating on Saturday after top-seeded Smyrna (11-1) squares off with No. 6 Dover (8-4) in this year’s Class 3A state title game. Kickoff is slated for 3 p.m. at Delaware Stadium with the contest being aired on the NFHS Network and radio station WDEL.

The Eagles come into the showdown as the clear favorite. Smyrna has won the last five meetings with the Senators, including a 46-21 victory on Oct. 22.

On the other hand, while the Eagles captured three state titles in a row between 2015-17, no one on this year’s squad has won a state crown.

“It definitely plays a part,” said Smyrna coach Mike Judy, a Dover High grad. “This team is really driven by (the fact that) they just don’t want to stop playing with each other, more than anything. They’re just such a selfless group of people.

“They truly don’t care what the stat line says or who’s the hero this game. They just want to win.”

Dover realizes it’s going to have its hands full as it tries to win the program’s first state championship since 1988.

Led by Class 3A offensive player of the year Yamir Knight, Smyrna has won its two state tournament games by a combined 98-0. The Eagles have been held under 40 points just three times all season and not once since the end of September.

To add just a little more to the challenge, Smyrna also owns five shutouts this season.

“They’re a great team and they’ve got a lot of weapons,” Knapp said about the Eagles. “And their defense is playing great. We just hope that our preparation is going to put us in a good position to be successful.

“Every game is a little different but you learn a little more each time. That helps. When we played Sussex Central the first time, we learned something about them. We were able to make adjustments and play better the next game.”

Dover has played some competitive stretches against the Eagles.

In last year’s semifinals, the Senators cut Smyrna’s lead to only 24-21 in the third quarter before the Eagles pulled away to a 46-21 victory. And in last year’s regular-season meeting, Dover closed within 20-13 in the fourth quarter before Smyrna answered with a pair of touchdowns.

If the Senators are the underdogs on Saturday, Knapp said they’ll take it. He was in that situation plenty of times when he was coaching at Wesley College.

“We’re just happy to be playing in the state championship,” said Knapp. “I’ve been in situations like this before and had some positive results. The team and I are looking forward to it.”

The Eagles say they’re not taking anything for granted. The sting from last year’s state finals is always there to remind them how much it hurts to lose.

“It’s not easy to win a football game, let alone a game of this magnitude,” said Judy. “We’re keeping our kids focused on, just do your job and limit your mistakes.”

Extra points

This will mark the first time a Dover varsity football team has played a game in Delaware Stadium but the fifth time for Smyrna. ... The Eagles have 16 seniors on their roster compared to 12 for the Senators. ... Smyrna had five players make first-team All-Class 3A while Dover had three. ... While Knapp is a former Wesley coach, Judy is one of his former offensive players. “When you get a chance to go against them, it’s a little different because they’ve been on your team,” said Knapp. “When you get together, it’s like you pick up where you left off. It’s like they were at practice two weeks ago — it doesn’t seem that long ago.”

Sports editor Andy Walter can be reached at walter@iniusa.org. Follow on Twitter at @DSNSports.

In the state finals

DOVER (2-1)
Division I

2001: Newark 28, Dover 24
1988: Dover 20, Salesianum 13, OT
1977: Dover 18, Newark 6

•••

SMYRNA (3-2)
Division I

2021: Middletown 28, Smyrna 22
2017: Smyrna 30, Middletown 27
2016: Smyrna 36, Middletown 14
2015: Smyrna 32, Salesianum 26, OT

Division II

1975: Glasgow 38, Smyrna 32