By Kevin Price

For GCS Athletics

 

The Brunswick High Pirates gave perennial power Grayson all it wanted Friday night between the bricks of Glynn County Stadium.

 

But when the long game ended on what had been another rainy night in coastal Georgia, the Class AAAAAAA power escaped Brunswick with a 44-31 victory over the Pirates who showed up ready for the challenge.

 

Despite the loss, which saddled the Pirates with a 1-2 record after their final non-region game, Brunswick can be encouraged about what it got out of this one and what could lie ahead if the Pirates can apply the lessons learned from the defeat as they get ready to sail into their Region 1-AAAAAA schedule that starts next week with a game at Grovetown in the Augusta area.

 

You could tell that BHS head coach Byron Slack, in his first season with the team, believes as much based on his comments during his interview session with the local media after Friday’s game.

 

“It was a great effort by our guys, and it got away from us there at the end,” Slack said. “Nevertheless, I think we can go into region feeling good if we understand what we gotta do.”

 

Friday’s game didn’t start until just after 8 p.m., about 40 minutes after the scheduled 7:30 start time. A lightning storm delayed pregame warm-ups for both teams which were stuck in their locker rooms until just about the time the game had been slated to kick off.

 

The crowd was much smaller than perhaps it would have been with better weather. But those who sat in the light rain that fell early on were treated to what would be a whale of a game.

 

The Pirates had last week off after blowing out a severely out-manned Groves team 63-0 two weeks ago Saturday. Brunswick lost its opening game 35-21 to Camden County, another team in Georgia’s largest class. That game started as planned on a Friday night, but was suspended until Saturday morning by a serious lightning storm.  

 

The Wildcats moved to 3-1 Friday night with a 39-36 triumph over Godby (Fla.) down in Kingsland, this win coming a week after Camden lost 27-23 at powerful Benedictine after leading going into the fourth quarter.

 

Grayson, which has won 15 region titles and four state championships in the state’s largest class since opening in 2000 including its last crown just two seasons ago, started this season ranked No. 3 in Class AAAAAAA. The Rams struggled out of the gate, however, losing their first two ballgames to North Gwinnett, now ranked inside the top five in the highest class, and also Sandy Creek, a defending state champion which has been ranked No. 1 in Class AAAA since the preseason.

 

Grayson, which has more than a dozen players with major-college offers, got in the win column last week when it defeated Hughes, another top-10 team in Class AAAAAA, 22-3 on the road while holding the Panthers to less than 200 yards of offense.

 

The 31 points scored by the Pirates in Friday’s game were the third-most given up by the Rams since their title-run in 2024. Carrollton scored 34 last year when defeating Grayson in the state quarterfinals on the way to playing Buford for the state and national crown. This season, North Gwinnett topped that when the Bulldogs beat the Rams 37-22 in the Corky Kell Classic to kick off the season.

 

“Nobody has move the ball on them cats in two years,” Slack said.

 

Brunswick was actually largely outgained in the yardage battle as the Rams put up 492 yards with a powerful running game that churned out 378 yards.

 

The Pirates finished with 294 total net yards, gaining 211 of that final total on the ground with big runs by their senior tandem of Nigel Gardner and Josiah Gibbons.

 

The Pirates stayed in the game with the big-play ability they’ve been known to possess which helped them set offensive records for scoring the past couple of seasons. Those plays came on the ground and through the air against an extremely talented, big and quick defense for the Rams which has college prospects at every level of the unit.  

 

Gardner, a commit to Memphis, led all ballcarriers with 141 yards rushing and two touchdowns for the Pirates. He carried 36 yards for the night’s opening score after the Pirates recovered a mishandled short kick by the Rams. Later, the senior speedster galloped 46 yards for his second touchdown and a Brunswick lead in the third quarter.

 

His backfield mate, fellow senior running back and Georgia Southern commit Josiah Gibbons, added 66 hard-fought yards on 14 carries.

 

Through the air, the Pirates went big, too, at least for touchdowns.

 

Keygan Walker, their senior quarterback and first-year starter, teamed up with senior receiver Waseem Murray, for scoring passess over the top of the defense that were from 33 and 28 yards.

 

Walker finished 6-for-17 for 83 yards and the two TDS while also throwing an interception.

 

The Pirates, after scoring first, trailed 20-7 prior to halftime, but came back to regain the lead at 24-20 early in the third period.

They got back in the game with their skill-players making those big plays.

 

Walker delivered that first TD pass of 33 yards to Murray who won a battle with a defender to make the catch in the end zone in the final minute of the first half, drawing the Pirates within 20-14 at the break.

 

BHS inched closer at the start of the third quarter when Murray returned the second-half kick 83 yards to the Grayson 11-yard line before the Pirates settled for a 27-yard field goal by Braxton Davis to make it 20-17.

 

The Pirates would actually regain the lead before the end of the third period when they got that 46-yard jaunt by Gardner to cap a 79-yard drive for a 24-20 advantage with just over four minutes left in the quarter.  

 

 “I thought we won the middle eight (minutes), the four at the end of the first half and the four at the start of the second half,” Slack noted.  

 

“Our kids understanding that part is important. You look at a lot of games around here, looking at the past, we’ve either gotten blown out or we’ve blown somebody out. It’s been a rare occasion where we’ve had to stand in there and go toe-to-toe. That was a great group to see what you got, and I told (the kids) we’re gonna see what we got.”

 

What both teams got from there was a battle royal to the finish, but not one more fitting for the squared circle than the prep football gridiron.

 

Grayson would regain the lead before the end of the third and led 27-24 when the game reached the fourth quarter.

 

The Rams looked like they might finally put away the Pirates when they went 89 yards on a drive that began before the end of the third stanza, increasing their led to 34-24 on an Ashton Turner 26-yard TD run with 9:54 to go.

 

They got the ball back again after a Brunswick punt but quickly gave it back to the Pirates when Isaiah Bennett intercepted a pass inside BHS territory and returned it to the Grayson 33.

 

From there, BHS needed only two plays to strike, with Walker and Murray connecting for their 28-yard touchdown play that pulled the Pirates within 34-31 with still more than seven minutes remaining.

 

The Pirates just couldn’t get the stop they needed from their defense which gave up a 63-yard touchdown run by Turner which basically sealed the game for the Rams. The junior running back carried for 140 yards and two scores on 15 carries to lead Grayson’s rushing attack.  

 

“We could have gotten us a stop on defense, but again, they have two Division I running backs, too,” Slack said. “They’re big, ole kids who can run, and they have four offensive lineman who are Division I guys. All that being said, we still missed a couple of tackles where we gotta get the guy down and live for another down.”

 

The Pirates went three-and-out on their ensuing possession, punting the ball back to the Rams with just over four minutes to play. The Rams, starting just in Brunswick territory, managed to run out all but the final eight seconds before kicking a 31-yard field goal to make for the final score.

 

“I told the kids we played a great game, except right there at the end in the last few minutes when people got frustrated and jumped off sides and things,” Slack said. “I dare to say that old us reared its head a little bit. But, we can keep chipping away at that old us and we’re gonna bury that old Brunswick here soon, throw dirt on him and he won’t ever come around here again.”