By Kevin Price For GCS Athletics Brunswick High took care of business on the field Friday night, rolling to a 46-19 victory over South Effingham in the final game of the regular season at Glynn County Stadium. That was the easy part of the victory combination it took for the Pirates to claim a second straight Region 1-AAAAA championship. Then, the Pirates had to wait through a nerve-racking finish to the Statesboro-Effingham game at Womack Field in Statesboro to actually get what they needed coming into the night. It ultimately worked out for the Blue and Gold as the Rebels pulled out a 42-41 win in overtime over Statesboro which made the Pirates region champions once again. With the win over the Mustangs, Brunswick finished 8-2 overall and 7-1 in the region, losing only to Statesboro during league play. The Pirates entered the night tied atop the region standings with the Blue Devils and also the Rebels as all three teams had one loss each in the region. Effingham’s lone loss was to the Pirates in the region opener for both teams. The Pirates needed to win their game against South Effingham and also needed Effingham to defeat Statesboro for them to claim back-to-back region crowns and a fourth one in five seasons. Statesboro would have claimed the league title and the top seed for the upcoming Class AAAAA state playoffs with a win over the Rebels had they been left tied with the Pirates because of their head-to-head win over Brunswick earlier this month. With Effingham winning, BHS became the champion again and the top seed from the region for the playoffs as its head-to-head win over the Rebels gave it the top spot. Effingham settles for the No. 2 seed and Statesboro drops to the No. 3 seed. Glynn Academy will be the region’s No. 4 seed. The Red Terrors won 16-13 at Greenbrier Friday to secure the fourth spot. Before Brunswick’s game finished Friday, Effingham had surged ahead 29-14 up in Statesboro late in the third quarter, but that game was far from finished. As the Pirates were walking off the field following their postgame meeting, the Blue Devils had already climbed back within 29-27 with about three minutes left in regulation. And probably before the BHS team could even get back to the school, Statesboro had quickly driven some 70 yards to go ahead 35-29 with now less than two minutes to play in the fourth quarter. With some Brunswick coaches hanging around outside the stadium locker room and watching the television broadcast on their cell phones, the Rebels recovered an onside kick by Statesboro and marched right down the field to tie the game up in the final seconds at 35-all. Effingham’s kicker is about as sure-footed as they come, but yes, you guessed it. He missed the extra-point, and the game was headed to overtime. Statesboro had possession first from the 15-yard line and scored, but the Blue Devils then missed their point-after try. When the Rebels got the ball in OT, they scored in a flash to tie it up at 41. This time, their kicker booted the ball right through the middle of the uprights for the win. The final, 42-41 Effingham! Obviously, the Brunswick-South Effingham game was nowhere near as thrilling as that one or the rides at the local fair taking place beyond the stadium here on Friday night. The Pirates, who honored their seniors on Senior Night, jumped out to a 16-0 lead in less than three minutes and proceeded to open up a 38-0 advantage by halftime. “We came out with a fast start, clicking in all three phases of the game. That’s what we wanted to do,” said BHS coach Garrett Grady. With a running clock in the second half, Brunswick did tack on one more score while the Mustangs scored three times including their Hail Mary for a touchdown on the final play of the game. The Pirates scored on five of six first-half possessions, driving 50, 45, 69, 69 and 59 yards for their touchdowns. Their longest drive was their first 69-yard drive which was 10 plays. Senior Heze Kent ran 13 yards for a touchdown on Brunswick’s opening series to start the game. Junior running back Nigel Gardner carried for a 6-yard TD on the team’s second series after the Pirates recovered an onside kick. BHS never kicked it deep and went for two points after every score with its starting kicker nursing an injury. The Pirates’ third score was a 7-yard pass from senior quarterback Grant Moore to Isreal Henry near the end of the first period. In the second quarter, Josiah Gibbons ripped off a 61-yard TD run, and Brunswick’s final score in the opening half was a leaping grab in the corner of the end zone by Kent who also caught a pass from Moore on the conversion attempt for the 38-0 halftime score. BHS converted four of its five two-point plays before halftime. Kent ran for two conversions, and Antwan Thomas also caught a two-point pass from Moore for the other conversion. The Mustangs got on the scoreboard in the third quarter after starting a drive at the Brunswick 32-yard line when they returned a Brunswick fumble inside BHS territory and converted the turnover into points. Another Gibbons’ TD jaunt, this one covering 55 yards, was the final score for the Pirates. They gave the ball to senior lineman Kasiyah Charlton who ran for two points and a 46-6 lead with 7:41 to play. The Mustangs started their next drive on Brunswick’s side of the field with the Pirates getting flagged for celebrating on the two-point play. Charlton tossed the ball high into the air after he scored, which brought out the yellow penalty flag. South Effingham took advantage of the starting field position to score its second touchdown. They would onside kick after the score and recovered their second one of the game. Grady pointed out that not recovering the two onside kicks were blemishes in the victory. BHS also mishandled onside kicks in the loss at Statesboro a few weeks back. The Mustangs would complete that 37-yard heave to the back of the end zone on the final snap of the game for a touchdown. The Pirates finished with 297 rushing yards and 130 passing yards for 427 total yards. Moore was a perfect 11-of-11 passing on the night with the two touchdowns. Kent showed three receptions for 40 yards and the touchdown. Gibbons led BHS with 167 rushing yards and two scores on eight carries while Gardner added 60 yards on eight attempts. Both Brunswick backs eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the season with their yardage totals. The Mustangs ended up with 151 total yards, getting just 61 on the ground and 90 through the air. Senior Deonte Berry had an interception for the Pirates. Grady was frustrated by the several 15-yard penalties against the Pirates including the celebration penalties after scores. “We’ve gotta fix that,” he said. “We can’t do that. “Those have to be addressed. Those are big momentum things. Those give someone a short field. They put our defense in a bad spot. We don’t teach that. We don’t coach that. Those are selfish.” Next up for the Pirates is the playoffs. They will be at home in the opening round in two weeks against Winder-Barrow, the No. 4 seed from Region 8.