By Kevin Price For GCS Athletics The Brunswick High Pirates can still win the Region 1-AAAAA championship, but they no longer control their own destiny. The Pirates were upset by Statesboro Friday night, falling 28-21 to the Blue Devils at Womack Field. The loss ended the Pirates’ six-game winning streak and left them now tied in the loss column with Statesboro and Effingham in the league standings. Brunswick is now 6-2 overall and 5-1 in the region while both the Blue Devils and the Rebels are 4-1. The Pirates own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Rebels because of their win over Effingham already in the region opener, but the Pirates would lose the head-to-head tiebreaker with Statesboro if the two teams were still tied for first in the standings at the end of the season. BHS has region games left against Lakeside-Evans and South Effingham. Effingham still has to play Greenbrier, Glynn Academy and Statesboro. Statesboro still has Evans and South Effingham before the game against Effingham to end the regular season. The region loss was the first for the Pirates since they fell to Effingham in the final game of the 2023 season. Brunswick won all eight of its league games last season on the way to the region championship and top seed for the Class AAAAA state playoffs. The Pirates played from behind from the start against Statesboro which opened the game by recovering an onside kick and taking the ball in for a touchdown on its first offensive series. The Blue Devils would force a Brunswick fumble with a sack of quarterback Grant Moore to set up its second touchdown after starting with a short field. Keon Childers, who scored all four touchdowns for the Blue Devils, carried for the TD. The Pirates, who have the third-highest scoring team in Class AAAAA with a 45.7 scoring average, scored to make it 14-7 on a run by Moore. But, the Blue Devils would build their lead to 20-7 in the second quarter with a third touchdown on a short run by Childers. Operating their single-wing attack as they were playing their third straight game without their starting quarterback, the Blue Devils chewed up clock and scored as planned, but this time the extra point was blocked. Brunswick forced a Statesboro punt inside the final three minutes of the opening half and produced a late score before halftime to get within 20-14 at the break on a 54-yard TD pass from Grant Moore to Heze Kent. At the start of the third quarter, the Pirates also forced a three-and-out by the Blue Devils to get the ball for their high-powered offense. BHS would take its first and only lead on another touchdown pass from Moore to Kent for a 21-20 advantage. On the next Statesboro possession, a busted coverage in the BHS secondary allowed the Blue Devils to possess the ball deep in the Pirates’ territory. They did give up the ball on downs, but having the Pirates backed up would pay off. The Blue Devils ultimately forced a Brunswick punt, and when Kent couldn’t hold onto the ball on a punt attempt, the home team went back on offense deep in BHS territory. They would punch the ball into the end zone this time on another Childers rush to regain a 26-21 lead in the third quarter. Again, the Blue Devils would attempt another onside kick, and again, they recovered their kick to get the ball right back. This allowed them to drain more clock, even though they didn’t turn the good field-position into more points. Brunswick got the ball back after a Statesboro punt at is own 13-yard line with just less than five minutes to go. A long pass from Moore to Kent got the Pirates inside the Blue Devil 20. But a few plays later, a pass from Moore that was intended for Kent in the end zone was intercepted by the Devils to deny the Pirates. Statesboro would pick up a couple of crucial first downs, and with Brunswick out of timeouts, the Blue Devils ran all but the final 40 seconds off the clock before having to punt. Brunswick muffed the punt, but recovered the ball inside the 10. Two plays later, Moore was pressured and was called for grounding as he threw the ball up which led to the safety and the final points of the game for the Blue Devils. Brunswick plays at Lakeside-Evans next Friday before an off week.