By Kevin Price For GCS Athletics The Brunswick High Pirates saw their season come to a close Friday night with a 41-14 loss at Marist in the second round of the Class AAAAAA state playoffs. The War Eagles (11-1) led 41-0 before the Pirates put two late touchdowns on the scoreboard. Ty’ler Sams scored for the Pirates after scooping up a Marist fumble inside the home team’s 30-yard line for Brunswick’s first score of the night. The Pirates also got a 10-yard touchdown run by Jamarious Towns following a 53-yard pass from J.R. Elkins to Heze Kent. Marist led 24-0 at halftime. Brunswick was making its fourth appearance in the second round in the last five seasons, but the Pirates are now 0-8 in second-round games since the 1999 BHS team played for the Class AAAA state championship. The Pirates, who were the No. 3 seed from Region 2-AAAAAA, end their season 7-4. Marist won a second-round game for the seventh consecutive season. The War Eagles, ranked seventh in Class AAAAAA at the end of the regular season, won the Region 4 championship this fall with a perfect 5-0 record. The War Eagles lost their season opener to Gainesville, the state runner-up last season, and have won 11 in a row since that loss to the Red Elephants to begin the season. Marist will play Roswell next week with the winner advancing to the semifinals. ...

By Kevin Price For GCS Athletics Kickoff A look at Brunswick High’s second-round playoff game: Opponent: Marist When: 7:30 p.m. Friday Where: Marist Football Field, Atlanta, Ga. Radio: 107.7 FM Records: BHS 7-3 overall, No. 3 seed from Region 2-AAAAAA: Marist 10-1, No. 1 seed from Region 4-AAAAAA, ranked No. 7 in state. Last week: BHS won 28-22 at Mundy’s Mill; Marist won 38-21 at home over Northside-Warner Robins. All-time: This will be the first-ever meeting between the teams. Game Preview: Brunswick will be playing in the second round for the fourth time in five seasons. The Pirates came from behind last week to win on the road in the opening round as they advanced with a 28-22 victory over Mundy’s Mill, the No. 2-seed from Region 3-AAAAAA. Brunswick trailed 22-7 at halftime. The second round has been a roadblock for the Pirates who have not played beyond round two since the 1999 Brunswick team reached the Class AAAA title game. The Pirates are 0-7 in second-round games since that historic season. Brunswick lost at home to Dacula in round two to end the 2021 season when they made their last appearance in the final 16. Marist won its fourth straight region championship this season, going a perfect 5-0 in Region 4-AAAAAA. The War Eagles, ranked seventh in Class AAAAAA to end the regular season, have won first-round games in seven straight seasons. The last time they didn’t reach the second round was the 2016 season when they lost 23-20 to Sandy Creek in the opening round. Marist has advanced to the quarterfinals each of the last six seasons, winning their third state title back in 2020. Alan Chadwick has been the team’s head coach since the 1985 season. Chadwick is currently the winningest active coach in the state with a 429-79 overall record. He is also second all-time for coaching victories in the state, trailing only Lincoln County legend Larry Campbell who finished his career with 477 wins. The War Eagles have won 10 straight games since dropping their season opener 34-26 to Gainesville, the runner-up last season in Class AAAAAA. The Pirates were the only Region 2 team to advance beyond the first round. Marist also was the only Region 4 team to win a first-round game last week. Last week, Marist intercepted four passes in its first-round victory over Northside and returned two for touchdowns. They also threw the ball themselves only four times, but completed two for scores. Jack Euart completed those two touchdown passes while also rushing for 72 yards and a touchdown. Joseph Pizzo added 83 yards and a touchdown on the ground for Marist. Sophomore Grant Moore is expected to make his fourth start at quarterback for the Pirates after taking over as the starter for the Pirates late in the season. Moore has passed for 1,166 yards and 14 touchdowns in 10 games. Senior wideout Terry Mitchell continued to lead all BHS receivers with 1,082 yards and nine touchdowns. He averages 108 yards a game catching the ball. William Heck and Jamarious Towns, both juniors, lead the Pirates rushing attack with 714 and 699 yards, respectively. Sophomore tight end Heze Kent is a threat as a pass-catcher and rusher for the Pirates. Kent scored Brunswick’s first touchdown last week on a 28-yard run. The winner of Friday’s game would meet the winner of the Lanier-Roswell second-round matchup next week in the state quarterfinals. Brunswick would be on the road against either team. ...

By Kevin Price For GCS Athletics A first half filled with turnovers, other mistakes and tough calls against them doomed the Glynn Academy Red Terrors who fell 32-31 on Friday night to Jonesboro in the opening round of the Class AAAAAA state playoffs at Glynn County Stadium. The Terrors lost four fumbles including three before halftime which led to two scores by the Cardinals who built a 26-7 lead in the first two quarters and then held off a valiant effort by Glynn in the second half to get out of Brunswick with the upset-victory. GA was the No. 2 seed from Region 2-AAAAAA and finishes its season with an 8-3 record. The first-round loss was the second in a row for the Terrors who fell at Northside-Warner Robins this time a year ago. Jonesboro, the third seed from Region 3, stayed alive in the playoffs with its first postseason victory since the Cardinals reached the state quarterfinals back in 2015. They are now 8-3 and will move on to play second-ranked Thomas County Central, the Region 1 champion, in the second round next week. “Our kids played hard, but we just stunk it up in the first half,” said GA head coach Rocky Hidalgo. The turnovers, it was just frustrating. It was one of those nights.” Hidalgo normally addresses his team on the field after a win or loss, but the Glynn coach took his team into the locker room after Friday’s game. His talk to the team inside the dressing quarters included a heart-felt salute to the seniors. “They’re a great group of young men,” the coach said. “They’ve been a great group. They never shorted us in the weight room, in practice, on the field. I can’t say enough about them, and they fought their tails off in the second half and gave themselves a chance to win after everything went against them in the first half.” The mishaps started for the Terrors on the game’s opening possession by the Cardinals. Glynn forced a three-and-out, but a roughing the punter penalty allowed Jonesboro to keep possession at the GA 44-yard line. Two plays later, Jonesboro junior quarterback Jamon Jones hit senior receiver Montez Redding for a 45-yard touchdown pass. A two-point conversion run by the Cardinals, who went for two after all of their scores, failed, but the visitors led 6-0 less than two minutes into the game. Glynn answered with an 11-play drive that covered 64 yards and included all rushing attempts by senior Willie Butler who scored from 6 yards to cap the march. Tuck Tucker made the extra-point kick for a 7-6 lead with 4:33 left in the first frame. The Terrors would force a punt the next time Jonesboro had the ball, but a Glynn fumble gave the Cardinals the ball at the GA 29-yard line moments later. The visitors needed only six plays to score their second touchdown on a a third-and-10 play from the 14 as Jones hooked up with sophomore receiver Jontavius Wyman for the six points. The scoring drive by the Cardinals also included a pass interference against Glynn on a third-and-9 play from the 28. The half-the-distance penalty gave the Cardinals a new set of downs at the GA 14. The Glynn sideline didn’t agree with the call nor did the GA fans based on their reaction. Now trailing 12-7 early in the second stanza, the Terrors saw things get worse before they got better. The Cardinals scored a third time after the ball was stripped away from Butler in a pile. The senior workhorse for the Terrors had just gained yardage into Jonesboro territory, and with the pile still moving, Butler gained a few more yards. However, the officials apparently never thought his forward progress had been stopped. Jonesboro’s Jermia Collier, a sophomore linebacker, somehow came away with the ball. He emerged from the pile and ran 54 yards for a touchdown that made it 18-7 with just under three minutes left in the opening half. Still, it got worse for Glynn. A high snap on a GA punt attempt from its own 23 sailed over the head of Tucker who was in punt formation. He chased the ball into the end zone, but tried to punt it out of there. The kick was blocked by the hard-charging Cardinals, and the ball went out of bounds at the Glynn 4, where Jonesboro took over first-and-goal. Jonesboro scored from the one on second down and also converted a pass for two points to make the score 26-7. After halftime, Glynn went to work on cutting into its deficit right way. The Terrors took the kick and drove 74 yards in nine plays with junior quarterback Jayden Ellis crossing the goal stripe from a yard out. The extra-point kick by Tucker made the score 26-14 with less than four minutes expired in the third period. GA would force a punt by the Cardinals on the next series, but Jonesboro got the ball back following another lost fumble on the punt return by Glynn at its own 11. This time, the GA defense bowed its neck and forced a turnover on downs even with Jonesboro getting a second shot at converting on fourth down after an interference penalty on the Terrors. Glynn got the ball at its own 6 on the stop, and the Terrors would drive the the 94 yards to paydirt in eight plays with sophomore runner Da’Sean Howard breaking into open field and scoring from 43 yards to pull Glynn within 26-21 late in the third after the extra-point kick. The Terrors would regain the lead for the first time since the early moments on their next possession which started at their own 20 following a punt to the end zone by the Cardinals. On a third-and-2 play, Ellis kept for first-down yardage along the GA sideline. But instead of going out of bounds, he stayed on his feet along the sideline, and would leap over a defender before going the rest of the way for a 72-yard scoring run that brought the GA faithful to their collective feet and put Glynn in front 29-26 with 8:39 left on the clock. Jonesboro didn’t roll over, though. The Cardinals came right back and went 80 yards in seven plays, getting a 48-yard run to the Glynn 7 by sophomore running back Lucious Murray that led to a pass from there for the go-ahead touchdown which ended up being the game-winner. “They’ve got good athletes. It’s tough to ask (the defense) to shut them out for a half,” Hidalgo said. With 5:52 to go, Glynn was trailing again, 32-29, when it went back on offense at its own 37. The Terrors drove to the Jonesboro 30, but facing a fourth-and-3 from there, a run by Ellis on an option play came up 2 yards short of the line to gain. The turnover on downs forced GA to give the ball back to the Cardinals with 2:02 to play. They came close to losing the ball and possibly even the game when their quarterback who was lined up in the shotgun mishandled a snap that bounced away from his hands. But Jones managed to get the ball back on while going to the ground to reel it in as a Glynn defender also dove for it. The Terrors called their last time out and did actually force Jonesboro to bring its punt team onto the field on fourth down with 11 seconds left. The punter would do as strategically told by his coaches in a timeout and ran out the back of the end zone which gave the Terrors a safety to make for the final score with only four seconds on the clock. Jonesboro did have to kick the ball to the Terrors who tossed it around a couple of times on the return before the game ended. Glynn dominated the yardage battle as the Terrors ran 420 yards while they threw only two passes without a completion in the game. GA rushed for 256 yards after halftime. Jonesboro finished with 88 rushing yards and 185 through the air for 273 total yards. Butler, who eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark during the game, led Glynn with 196 yards on 34 carries. Ellis added 146 yards on 15 attempts and Howard gained 72 yards on six carries. “We ran the ball down their throat, but turned it over,” Hidalgo said. “That was frustrating.” ...

By Kevin Price For GCS Athletics All those who traveled with the Brunswick High Pirates to their first-round game in the Class AAAAAA state playoffs were treated to a thrilling victory Friday night by the Blue and Gold. The Pirates rallied from a 22-7 halftime deficit to knock off Mundy’s Mill 28-22 at 12 Oaks Stadium in Hampton to advance to the second round for the fourth time in the last five seasons. The victory was also the first in the playoffs for second-year head coach Garrett Grady who led the Pirates to a second straight Region 2-AAAAAA title and unbeaten regular-season last fall before they lost a heart-breaker at home to Houston County in the opening round. This year, the Pirates went to metro Atlanta as the No. 3 seed from Region 2 just a week after falling 31-28 at Effingham to end the season schedule with the Rebels kicking a winning field goal as time expired after Brunswick had battled back from a 21-7 deficit at intermission. Just like a week ago, the Pirates (7-3) were down two scores to the Tigers (8-3), the No. 2 seed from Region 3, coming out of the locker room for the second half. This week, though, the Pirates did all the scoring after halftime as they came from behind to win. Brunswick pulled within 22-13 at the start of the third quarter on a 17-yard touchdown run by freshman Waseem Murray. The Pirates actually got what appeared to be a defensive score on an interception return for a touchdown by Jashawn Towns on the opening possession of the second half. However, the score was nullified by a pair of personal fouls called on the Pirates. The penalties also forced BHS to start its ensuing offensive series at midfield. The Pirates would cover the 50 yards to score on Murray’s run. The score stood at 22-13 going into the fourth quarter when the Pirates pulled within 22-20 on a 36-yard scoring strike from quarterback Grant Moore to running back Jamarious Towns. Brunswick began the scoring march from its own 24 after taking possession following a punt by Mundy’s Mill from midfield with about 8 minutes left. The Pirates would go in front for the first time since an early 7-0 lead when they paraded 78 yards following a stop by their defense which included a third-down sack by seniors River Creel and Devin Smith. BHS converted a fourth-and-1 play when Heze Kent, the 250-pound tight end, took a handoff to midfield for the first down. Brunswick also got 15 more yards with a face-mask infraction against the Tigers on the tackle. Three snaps later, Murray scored on a reverse from 7 yards out and Brunswick would have the 28-22 lead with just over two minutes remaining. The Pirates needed one last stop by their defense to complete the comeback which they got after the Tigers reached the Brunswick 39 on their last possession. “I’m so proud of our team and coaching staff,” said Brunswick’s Grady. “We dug a hole early and went into the half down, but our team never quit. They kept chopping wood, one play at a time. They believed in each other.” The Pirates took the early lead after a stop of the Tigers to open the night deep in BHS territory. The Brunswick offense quickly went 86 yards and scored on a 28-yard TD run by big Kent with just over six minutes left in the initial quarter. BHS had a prime chance to go up two scores early after Smith hit the Mundy’s Mill quarterback as he tried to deliver a pass. The ball was intercepted and returned to the home team’s 30 by Donyea Broughton. But, the Pirates turned over the ball on downs to the Tigers. They would go 75 yards for their first touchdown, and after a two-point conversion, led by 8-7. The Tigers jumped ahead 16-7 when they scored on fourth-and-goal and again added a two-point conversion. BHS pounced on a fumble by the Tigers in the end zone to keep them from scoring again with about four minutes remaining in the opening half. The Pirates would go three-and-out, and they decided to gamble with a fake-punt try. A pass by BHS was intercepted at midfield and returned for a touchdown that made for the 22-7 score at the break. Next week, the Pirates will travel back to metro Atlanta for their second-round game at perennial power Marist, the champion and top seed from Region 4. The War Eagles won their playoff opener 38-21 over Northside-Warner Robins on Friday night. The Pirates were the only team from Region 2 to advance. Effingham, the region champion, got pounded by Lovejoy which won 47-14 over the Rebels in Springfield. Glynn Academy, the No. 2 seed, lost 32-31 to Jonesboro after trailing 26-7 at halftime. Also, Evans, the No. 4 seed, lost to Region 3 champion Woodward Academy 31-14. ...

By Kevin Price For GCS Athletics Kickoff A look at Brunswick High’s first-round game in the Class AAAAAA state playoffs: Opponent: Mundy’s Mill When: 7:30 p.m. Friday Where: 12 Oaks Stadium, Hampton, Ga. Radio: 107.7 FM Records: BHS 6-3 overall, No. 3 seed from Region 2-AAAAAA; MM 8-2, No. 2 seed from Region 3-AAAAAA Last week: BHS lost 31-28 at Effingham; MM won 38-14 at home over Morrow. All-time: Teams have never played. This will be the first meeting between Brunswick High and Mundy’s Mill. Game Preview: Brunswick is back in the state playoffs for the ffifth consecutive season, but the Pirates will open the postseason on the road for the first time since the 2020 campaign. Brunswick is 3-1 in its last four opening-round games. The Pirates won at Morrow in the first round back in 2019 and won at Alcovy the following season. BHS defeated Tucker at home innthe first round in the 2021 season before falling to Houston County last fall in the first round at home. Mundy’s Mill is making its second straight appearance in the playoffs. The Tigers lost their first-round game last year at St. Piux X. They have not won a playoff game since the 2013 season when they knocked off Houston County and Lee County in the first two weeks of the playoffs to reach the state quarterfinals before losing to Gainesville. This is the second season for Earthwind Moreland as the head coach at Mundy’s Mill. Moreland played high school football at Grady and went on to play for Georgia Southern, where he helped the Eagles to three conference championships and an NCAA Division 1-AA title as a defensive back. Moreland signed with Tampa Bay as a free agent in 2000 and played in the NFL with several teams until 2006. He won a Super Bowl with the New England Patriots. The Tigers went 8-2 in the regular season, winning their first six games before losing at Carver-Atlanta on Oct. 6. Following a win over Rockdale, the Tigers lost their only other game to Region 3 champion Woodward Academy on Oct. 27 before closing their schedule with a victory over Morrow last Friday. Mundy’s Mill averages 26.3 points a game while allowing 13.4 a game. The Pirates averaged 35.9 points a game during the regular-season while allowing 17.6. For BHS, senior receiver Terry Mitchell averages almost 109 receiving yards a game. The Brunswick-Mundy’s Mill winner will face the Marist-Northside -Warner Robins winner next week in the second round. The Pirates would have to play at Marist, a No. 1 seed, but would host Northside, a No. 4 seed. ...

By Kevin Price For GCS Athletics Kickoff A look at Glynn Academy’s first-round game in the Class AAAAAA state playoffs: Opponent: Jonesboro When: 7:30 p.m. Friday Where: Glynn County Stadium Radio: 102.5 FM Records: GA 8-2 overall, No. 2 seed from Region 2-AAAAAA; Jonesboro 7-3, No. 3 seed from Region 3-AAAAAA Last week: GA won 50-7 at home over Lakeside-Evans; Jonesboro won 36-30 at home over Lovejoy. All-time: GA leads 1-0 in the brief history between these teams. Game Preview: Glynn Academy is making its xxxx straight appearance in the playoffs. The Red Terrors lost in the first-round last year by an 18-13 score at Northside-Warner Robins. Glynn will be looking to advance beyond the first round for the first time since beating Grovetown at home to open the 2020 playoffs. GA also fell in the first round to Hughes in 2001. The Terrors won in the first round every year from 2014-2020 under head coach Rocky Hidalgo who is taking the team to the playoffs for the 10th straight season since becoming the GA head coach prior to the 2014 campaign. This will be the second playoff meeting for Glynn and Jonesboro. The teams met in Brunswick in the first round back in 2016 with the Terrors winning 45-3. Glynn also defeated Allatoona at home in the second round that season before losing to Northside at home in the quarterfinals. Deejay Dallas, who is currently playing in the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks, was Glynn’s quarterback as a senior in that 2016 season. Jonesboro is back in the playoffs this season after not making the postseason a year ago. They had been to the playoffs four straight seasons before missing out last season. The Cardinals, however, have not won a playoff game since the 2015 campaign when they went to the quarterfinals after defeating Thomas County Central and Carrollton in the first two rounds before losing to Cartersville. Glynn senior running back Willie Butler has carried for 918 yards and needs only 82 yards to reach the 1,000-yard mark for the Terrors. The Terrors returned three interceptions for touchdowns last week as they rolled past Lakeside-Evans in a game that included a running clock for the final two quarters. Jonesboro quarterback Jamon Jones, a junior, has thrown for 1,623 yards this season and has completed 15 touchdown passes. Jonesboro quarterbacks have thrown 20 total scoring passes and 12 have been to senior receiver Montez Redding who has 41 total catches for 908 yards on the season. He averages 22.1 yards per reception. Friday’s winner between Glynn and Jonesboro would face the winner of St. Pius X and Thomas County Central next week. The Terrors would have to travel to Thomas County Central, a No. 1 seed, but would play at home against St. Piux, a No. 4 seed. ...