Smyrna Eagles Look to Repeat as DIAA 3A Champs
Tagged under: Beyond The Keystone, News
Anthony Franklin | September 22, 2023
Smyrna HS is in Smyrna, Delaware roughly 70 miles south of Philadelphia. The Eagles play in the top Delaware Classification (3A) and have won 4 state championships in the last 10 years including last year’s title. While they are in Central Delaware, they’re rooted with the toughness displayed by many Philly area teams. They are highly disciplined & well respected throughout the first state. In 2021 the Eagles outside of an opening game loss to Bergen Catholic (NJ) the Eagles went undefeated against Delaware competition until the state title game against rival Middletown where they ran out of time deep in the endzone in a heart-breaking loss. The Eagles would get another chance at Middletown in week 2 of the 2022 season and a last second touchdown catch would once again give them a heart-breaking loss to Middletown. That would fuel them to win 11 straight games (all were 20+ point wins) to win the 3A state title.
For the 2023 season Coach Mike Judy challenged his team by scheduling 2 out of state games against quality Pennsylvania teams. Up first was Manheim Central HS a school that advanced to the PIAA quarterfinals last season and boosted returning an all-state running back in Brycen Armold. Coach Judy has always challenged his team and despite a quick 21-point deficit the Eagles battled back to take a late lead 36-31 with under 3 minutes left to play in the game. Manheim Central would score with under a minute remaining to escape with a win. The Eagles, for the second year in a row, loss on a heartbreaking final score. Week 2 the Eagles would travel to Perkiomen Valley HS to battle the Vikings. The Eagles once again came up just short but one thing that can be strongly argued is this team will be battle tested when they enter divisional play. Gone from the 2022 title team are 3A Player of the Year RB/WR/DB/RS Yamir Knight (JMU), RB/LB Markell Holman, OL Evan Beaus (Salisbury University), QB Brian Wright (Widener) & LB Nate Chandler (Sacred Heart). The team has broken in 2 new quarterbacks with Sr. Jacob Tiberi (16/28 291 yards and 3 TDs) & Fr. Drew Marks (21/36 412 yards & 5 TDs) and a host of young receivers So. Phoenix Henriquez (9/299 2TDs), Sr. Andre Ashley (11/147 1 TD) and Sr. Dior Mackey (6/120 1 TD). DB Senior Corey Williams leads the defense with 11 tackles & 2 passes defended.
Conference play begins this week as the Eagles will now get to use those out of state games as confidence boosters and draw from that experience. First is a trip to Salesianum Friday at 7:30pm. The Eagles last year played Salesianum last season defeating them 42-21 in the regular season. Corey Williams expressed how different this team is from last season. “This team has a whole new identity compared to last year’s state champions so this season will give us a chance to write our own story. The atmosphere against Manheim Central was amazing & it’s always great getting to play with our band in the stands making it feel like we are at our own home field”. As far as recruiting goes for Corey, he’s heard from many schools from the D1 level down through the Division 3 level. He stated “My senior season campaign will be the deciding factor on which college will take a chance on me and they won’t regret taking a chance on a great player. Freshman QB Drew Marks stated that his first HS game there were “Definitely butterflies but film study helps him capitalize on opponents and that he’s learned early in the season that this team has fight no matter what and they’ll have lots of success if they just keep focusing on all the details and not taking their eyes off the end goal which is another state title game appearance and victory. The Eagles for the first time in a while begin the season at 0-2 but those losses were to to large classification PA schools and they hung tightly with both programs. This season expect this Eagles team to grow together and be a force when they enter the DIAA 3A playoffs. They’ll likely see Middletown, Dover, Appoquinimink, Salesianum & St. George’s Tech in the regular season in what will be a very competitive DIAA 3A season. Another huge advantage Smyrna has is their great band which travels to all of their games and can be quite intimidating with their size and also their playing while opponents are trying to call out plays. Hands down probably the best band in the first state that pumps up the Eagles especially on defense. While there is no run-away favorite to win the DIAA 3A title the defending champs are still champs until dethroned. Best wishes to all the DIAA programs and salute to a great Coach and program over at Smryna on a successful and healthy 2023 season.
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