By Kevin Price

For GCS Athletics

 

The Brunswick High Pirates picked up their first win of the 2026 season Saturday night, cruising past the Groves Rebels 63-0 at Glynn County Stadium.

 

The victory was also the first with the Pirates for new BHS head coach Byron Slack who accepted the top post with the Pirates during the offseason.  

 

He knows few wins come as easily as this one did Saturday night for the Pirates who had the Rebels severely out-manned, but Slack was proud to see the Pirates take care of business.

 

“A win is a win,” Slack said. “We knew going in it was a game we should be able to win handily, but we challenged the kids to make sure we got better than we were last week when we look at the film.

 

“Quite honestly, in a game like this, you may not see it out there. But, I got on one of the kids during the game who got lazy with his technique. That was a real concern for us, but I thought the kids handled that well.”

 

The game was originally scheduled for Friday, but severe rains and issues that resulted from the afternoon thunderstorms forced the game’s postponement until Saturday evening.

 

The wait to play didn’t bother the Pirates, who dropped their season-opener last Saturday to Camden County, 35-21. That game started on Friday night at the local stadium but was suspended by lightning before halftime and resumed last Saturday morning.

 

The Pirates made easy work of the Rebels who went 0-10 last season and have now lost 15 straight games dating back to the 2024 season. They dropped their opener last week, 36-24, to Islands at home in Garden City.  

 

Brunswick led 56-0 at halftime which led to a running clock throughout the second half by the 30-point mercy rule.

 

The Pirates scored touchdowns on all seven of their first-half possessions and also returned an interception for a touchdown before halftime.

 

With the clock rolling in the third and fourth quarters, the Pirates had limited possessions over the rest of the game and emptied their bench as the contest rolled toward the final horn.

 

“I didn’t want to see people making the same mistakes they made last week,” Slack said. “I told our coaches to over-coach the details because that is hopefully gonna pay off for us at some point.”

 

Brunswick’s touchdown drives in the first two quarters covered the following distances: 41 yards, 27, 1, 18, 40, 44 and 63 yards.

 

BHS quarterback Keygan Walker had a huge night throwing the ball. Walker, a senior who was making his second varsity start, finished the first half going a perfect 6-for-6 for 190 yards and five touchdowns.

 

Walker threw a pair of touchdown passes last week in the loss to Camden and now has seven TD passes in the Pirates’ first two games.

 

On Saturday, he hit Isreal Henry for a 23-yard score on Brunswick’s opening possession. He would toss a swing pass to senior running back Josiah Gibbons on Brunswick’s next series that went for a 27-yard touchdown play.

 

Also in the first half, Walker delivered a 18-yard strike to Eli Overton for the fifth BHS touchdown that made it a 35-0 game. He would then throw a 33-yard scoring pass to Waseem Murray for a 42-0 lead the next time BHS had the ball. Just before that, he hooked up with Murray for a 22-yard pass which was his only pass that didn’t go for a touchdown.

 

His final throw of the night went to Henry and was good for a 63-yard touchdown play along the BHS sideline that made for the 56-0 tally at the half.

 

“He’s been on point, throwing the ball great,” Slack said when asked about Walker. “He’ll continue to get better as we go, I believe.”

 

 The Pirates scored twice in the first half on running plays. Nigel Gardner, one of their two senior stalwarts at running back, carried for a 1-yard touchdown run. The BHS coaches called his number after he nearly returned a punt by the Rebels for a touchdown. He returned the kick 54 yards, but was tripped up just before he could cross the goal line for a score.

 

BHS also got a 43-yard TD run by backup running back Cole Quarterman midway through the second quarter.

 

The Pirates got their interception return for a touchdown by Samir Dobbins in the closing moments of the first quarter. He picked off a pass at the Groves 24-yard line and raced along the home sideline for his pick-6.

 

Brunswick’s only score in the quick second half came on its second possession in the third quarter. Xavier Stevens, another backu runner, scored from 27 yards out to make for the 63-0 final score.

 

Braxton Davis was perfect on his extra-point kicks in the win.

 

Brunswick finished the game with 330 total yards. The Pirates rushed for 140 yards to go with the 190 through the air by Walker.

 

“We had a couple of guys we wanted to get in space and see if they could catch the ball and also continue to get Keygan in rhythm. Quarterback is a rhythm thing, you know,” Slack said.

 

“It would have been easy to just hand the ball off, but we thought we had some things in the passing game and they were open.”

 

The BHS senior running back tandem of Gardner and Gibbons wasn’t needed in this one as the two standouts carried only four total times, but both players helped get the Pirates favorable starting field position with strong returns on special teams.

 

The Pirates held the Groves offense to 120 total net yards while pitching the shutout. The Rebels ended up rushing for 94 yards with starting running back Taff James, a senior, gaining 93 yards on 22 carries.

 

Brunswick also created four turnovers, intercepting two passes and recovering two fumbles by the Rebels. In addition to the pick-6 by Dobbins, Isaiah Bennett also had an interception for the Pirates.

 

The fumble recoveries for BHS were made by Tyrus Jones and David Parrish.

 

Brunswick will have an open date next week before returning to GC Stadium on Sept. 11 for a matchup with Class AAAAAAA power Grayson.

 

“We’re just not playing next week, but we’re not off,” Slack joked, alluding to the fact that the Pirates will still be on the practice field next week. “Grayson will be a big challenge, a great opportunity.

 

“We’re excited to have them come down here and play us. They have some kids, but we do, too. I told our kids just now if you fancy yourself to be a big-game hunter, in two weeks, we will see.”