MIDDLETOWN — With about eight minutes left, it was anybody’s game to win.
The score was tied and Smyrna and Middletown High had combined for just one second-half touchdown.
Then somehow, the two squads erupted for 36 points in a span of less than two minutes.
The second-seeded Cavaliers reeled off 28 of those points to suddenly turn a tense battle into a comfortable 48-28 victory over the No.3 Eagles in the DIAA Division I state semifinals on Friday night.
Middletown advances to next Saturday’s Division I state championship game, which will be played at 1 p.m. at Delaware Stadium. The Cavaliers (10-1) will play the winner of today’s other semifinal, where No. 4 Sussex Central (9-2) travels to top-seeded Hodgson (10-0) for a noon contest.
Henlopen Conference teams have won an unprecedented four straight Division I state titles.
Middletown’s second win over Smyrna (9-3) this season sends the Cavs to their third state finals in the past four years. The Eagles had an eight-game state tourney winning streak snapped.
Senior Jaheim Wing scored three touchdowns, including one on a three-yard run that gave the Cavs the lead for good at 26-20 with 7:55 left.
But the two teams were just getting warmed up. Senior Najiar Smith sprinted 60 yards for a TD with 6:41 left to make it 34-20 for the Cavs.
Smyrna’s Devin Smith, however, returned the ensuing kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown. When Wayne Knight threw a two-point conversion pass to Espie Hart, the Eagles were suddenly back within 34-28 with 6:29 on the clock.
After Middletown recovered an onsides kick, it took just one play for quarterback Jaden Davis to throw a screen pass to Isaiah Griffin, who turned it into a 49-yard scoring play.
Finally, the Cavs sealed the win on Smyrna’s next play from scrimmage. Michael Pearson scooped up a fumble and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown that stretched Middletown’s advantage to 48-28 with six minutes left.
Jaden Davis, the highly-recruited sophomore QB, completed 12-of-19 passes for 281 yards.
Trailing 20-7, Smyrna pulled closer on an 11-play, 78-yard march just before halftime. Senior Marcus Cajuste scored on a one-yard run before Wayne Knight added the two-point conversion on a nice spin move to make it 20-14 with 1:30 left before intermission.
The Eagles then started the second half with an 11-play, 59-yard march that took 5:22 off the clock. Wayne Knight capped off the drive with a 14-yard scoring pass up the middle.
Middletown stopped a run on the two-point conversion to keep the game tied at 20-20 with 6:38 left in third quarter.
The Cavs scored first in the contest Najair Smith made a nice cut back to score on a four-yard run about 11 minutes into the contest. The touchdown was set up a Jones’ 69-ayrd pass to De’Quez Walker.
Smyrna answered Middletown’s TD with a quick scoring drive of its own. Wayne Knight went seven yards the middle of the wildcat formation with just 14.1 seconds left in the first quarter.
A 47-yard pass from Aidan Sanchez to Devin DeMoe got the Eagles to the Cavs’ seven.
The Cavs, though, stopped the two-point conversion try to hang on to Davis 7-6 advantage.
Middletown then added to that lead on its next possession. This time Davis found wide open Wing over the middle for a 37-yard scoring pass.
Four minutes later, Davis and Wing hooked up for another TD. This time, Middletown caught Smyrna in a blitz. Davis barely got off the screen pass but Wing gathered it in and raced 51 yards for a touchdown that put the Cavs up 20-7.
Davis completed 8-of-12 passes for 206 yards in the first half alone.
For Smyrna, Wayne Knight ran for 77 yards on seven first-half carries. Sanchez threw for 85 yards after completing 6-of-9 passes.
Smyrna had won nine games in a row since starting the season at 0-2. One of those losses, of course, was a 17-6 setback to Middletown in the season-opening Harvest Bowl.
While Smyrna had lost its three regular-season meetings with the Cavs since 2017, the Eagles had also beat the Caavs in both the 2016 and ‘17 state finals.
Reach sports editor Andy Walter at walter@newszap.com
