By Kevin Price

For GCS Athletics

 

On paper, Glynn Academy was the underdog against Brunswick High on Friday night in the annual City Championship Game at Glynn County Stadium.

 

But on the field when in mattered, Glynn Academy was the better team as the Red Terrors pulled off a 21-17 victory over the Pirates to claim the 2026 city crown and also pick up a key Region 1-AAAAAA victory as the season goes into the home stretch.  

 

With the win, Glynn improved to 3-4 on the season and 2-2 in the region while preventing the rival Pirates from retiring the current city championship trophy with a third straight victory in the series.

 

“We’ve got great kids. They come to work everyday, and they’re fun to coach,” said GA head coach Rocky Hidalgo who won this game for the eighth time in his 13 seasons with the Terrors.

 

“I don’t think we’re as bad as we’ve played. We just haven’t played consistently, and we did that more tonight.”

 

The Pirates fell to 3-4 overall with the loss and they also are 2-2 in the region.  

 

Brunswick came into the game with the more potent rushing attack led by college commits Nigel Gardner and Josiah Gibbons, but it was Glynn’s offense that won the rushing battle as the Terrors churned out 334 yards on the ground with a ball-control offense that limited the Pirates’ chances with the ball on Friday night.

 

Time of possession is often overrated in a football game, but it wasn’t between the bricks in this one. It was probably the biggest key to Glynn pulling off what will rate as at least a mild upset in the annals of this longtime crosstown matchup.

 

Unofficially, Glynn possessed the ball for more than 37 minutes of the 48-minute game. The Terrors had the ball for more than 16 minutes in the first half, allowing the Pirates to have the ball for only four times in the opening 24 minutes.

 

Brunswick’s fourth drive in the first half was really only one play as it started following a 51-yard punt in the final seconds of the half by Patrick Coyle that pinned the Pirates inside their 9.  

 

As a result, the Terrors held a 7-3 advantage at the break.

 

After halftime, the Terrors controlled the ball for more than 21 minutes including the final 10:08 of the ballgame after the Pirates had gotten within the four-point final margin.

 

“We wanted to choke the life out of them,” Hidalgo said about the offensive plan. “We were gonna drag them down into a deep dark place they didn’t wanna go. That was our thing.

 

“They have all the speed, all the explosiveness. All that stuff we had to contain. We wanted to get nasty with them. That was our goal tonight, come down here, get nasty with them, and make them get nasty with us and see if they could do it for 48 minutes.”

 

Again, Brunswick only had three possessions in the second half as well, though the Pirates did score quick and easy on back-to-back series to stay in the game.

 

That looked all too familiar to the Terror faithful who have seen the GA defense surrender yards in bunches and points in a hurry all season including the two region games they had lost to Bradwell Institute and Effingham at home.

 

Both of those teams, like the Pirates, have dynamic skill-players who combine to make for an offense that can light up scoreboards.

 

Against Effingham in their last game two weeks ago, the Terrors also couldn’t control the ball as they committed five turnovers including one on a kickoff in the fourth quarter after the Rebels had just regained the lead after falling behind for the first time on the night. Effingham quickly scored again which pretty much put the nail in the coffin.

 

On Friday night against the Pirates, it was different.

 

The Terrors didn’t commit a single turnover and they took it to a Brunswick defense which has had trouble stopping the run all season while allowing teams to extend drives by not getting them off the field on third down.  

 

The BHS defense certainly didn’t stop the Terrors when it mattered most in the fourth quarter of a tight ballgame on Friday.

 

The Pirates, who trailed all game, had pulled within 21-17 with just over 10 minutes to play on an 80-yard run by Gibbons on Brunswick’s first snap from scrimmage following a Glynn score.

 

That was actually the last offensive play of the game, however, for the Pirates.

 

GA went back on offense with 10:08 to go and kept the ball the remainder of the game, converting on a fourth-and-1 play from the Brunswick 20-yard line with 2:11 left to seal the game.

 

Junior running back Caiden Robinson crashed through the line for a 4-yard gain that gave the Terrors a fresh set of downs, and all that was left for Glynn to do then was kneel on the ball as the remaining time ran off the clock.  

 

That final conversion by Glynn for the first down was one of three by the Terrors on that final possession. They also converted a 3-and-9 from their own 25 early in the drive and a third-and-7 from the BHS 37 before the Robinson carry to finish out the game. All three conversions by Glynn came on called runs.

 

Robinson’s final carry gave him 72 yards for the game on 16 attempts.

 

Hidalgo credited backup center Collin Smith for playing a big role in the win as he had to take over in the third quarter for starter Andrew Gleaton who suffered an injury.

 

“He hasn’t snapped a ball in eight weeks,” Hidalgo said of Smith who he called on to accept the championship trophy post-game for the team. “We don’t win this game without him. There are a bunch of storylines like that throughout this game, kids fighting their tails off and playing ball.”

 

The Terrors actually set the tone for the night when they took the opening kick and drove into Brunswick territory before stalling out because of penalties that forced a punt. Glynn had the ball for more than seven minutes on that opening series.

 

Brunswick didn’t go anywhere on its first possession after starting at its own 13. A three-and-out led to a punt and Glynn got the ball back at the Pirate 46.

 

GA took advantage of the field position when senior Ja’kori Roman ripped off a 47-yard run for the night’s first touchdown on a pitch play on third-and-11 for the Terrors.

 

Roman was named the Glynn County Sports Hall of Fame Player of the Game after leading Glynn with 96 yards on eight carries.

 

Coyle added the point-after for the 7-0 lead late in the opening quarter. He was named the Defensive Player of the Game as he kept the Pirates backed up all game with booming kicks in the end zone after the Glynn touchdowns and ytwo punts that traveled 50-plus yards. 

 

BHS appeared to tie the score on its second offensive series when Keygan Walker found Eli Overton over the middle on a pass that went for a 31-yard touchdown. But, the Pirates were flagged on the play for an illegal man downfield and the score came off the board. Brunswick ended up being forced to punt.

 

The Pirates did score on their next series when they got a 28-yard field goal by Braxton Davis to make for the 7-3 score with 2:42 left until halftime.

 

The Pirates started with the ball in the third quarter, but were forced to punt.

 

The Terrors began their first possession of the quarter at their own 30 and would march the 70 yards for a touchdown in 10 plays while chewing up just over six minutes of the clock.

 

Again, the score by Glynn came on a third-and-3 play when junior quarterback Max Noonan kept for a 31-yard TD scamper that stretched the lead to 14-3 after the extra-point kick with 3:40 left in the third stanza.

 

Noonan, named the Farm Bureau Offensive Player of the Game, finished with 76 yards on 17 carries as he kept for key gains throughout the second half.

 

BHS quickly answered the GA touchdown with Gibbons dashing 65 yards for a score on the second snap of the Pirates’ ensuing series. The point-after made it 14-10 which was the score going into the fourth quarter.

 

The Terrors had the ball when the final period opened and they would score a third touchdown on the 8-play, 76-yard drive with Ian Pomiechowski going 53 yards for the TD that made it 21-10 following the PAT.

 

Again, the Pirates called Gibbons’ number on the first play of their next series and the senior who is committed to Georgia Southern darted 80 yards up the middle for his second touchdown that cut the GA lead to the four-point final tally with a little more than 10 minutes to go.

 

But as you know, the Pirates never saw the ball again as Glynn played keep-away for the final 10 minutes to salt away the game.

 

“That’s their formula,” said first-year BHS coach Byron Slack who was coaching in this game for the first time. “One of the hardest things for us was simulating the offense with where we are in numbers. We had freshman out there doing it for our scout team.

 

“Stopping that offense is straight responsibility football. When you do your job, it’s a one-yard gain, when you don’t it’s six yards.

 

“We had to stop them one time (at the end), but we missed some big tackles and we’re just struggling with the responsibility part of it as well.”

 

Gibbons led Brunswick with 167 yards on just seven carries. Gardner, who is committed to Miami (Ohio), also carried only seven times for 30 yards.

 

In Brunswick’s last game, a 57-49 overtime loss at Bradwell, Gardner set a new school singe-game rushing record with 363 yards on 25 attempts. His largest gain Friday night was nine yards.

 

BHS finished with 197 rushing yards and 100 passing yards for 297 total on the night. Walker, the team’s first-year starting quarterback, was 4-of-10 passing for the game.

 

Glynn only threw the ball twice for 13 yards to give the Terrors 347 yards for the night.

 

BHS is left to pick up the pieces as it now finds itself in a serious fight to be among the 32 teams in the state-playoff field which will be determined by power rankings for the first time in each of the state’s classifications. Brunswick plays host to South Effingham next Friday night.

 

“I told them we’re gonna find out a lot about ourselves starting Sunday,” Slack said.

 

The Terrors, meantime, kept their playoff hopes alive with the win Friday night. They needed this one and likely will need the final three as well to have a shot at the postseason.

 

“This is one of the most satisfying wins we’ve had,” Hidalgo said. “Struggle makes you strong and our kids have been struggling and didn’t give up.”