By Kevin Price For GCS Athletics The Brunswick High Pirates saw their season come to a sudden halt Friday night at Glynn County Stadium with a 42-0 loss to fourth-ranked Gainesville in the second round of the Class AAAAA state playoffs. The game actually didn’t finish. It was called with 1:57 left in the third quarter due to a bench-clearing brawl between the Pirates and Red Elephants. It started with some pushing and shoving at midfield between players from both teams following an incomplete pass by the Pirates. It quickly escalated with punches getting thrown by players from both sides during the melee as players and coaches rushed the field from both sidelines. Coaches, game security and administrators did their best to control the situation as quickly as possible. Once the teams were separated and order was restored, a lengthy discussion took place with the athletic directors for both schools getting on the phone with administrators from the Georgia High School Association. A decision was reached to call off the game at that point, and the Red Elephants were declared the winner. The game was headed to a running-clock situation in the fourth quarter by rule with Gainesville leading by the 30-point margin required to have a rolling clock for the final 12 minutes. BHS head coach Garrett Grady said the following when asked about incident that ended the game: “We gotta keep our composure. When something like that happens on the field, we can’t leave the sideline. We gotta learn from our mistakes. I know teams wanna stick up for their teammates, but we wanna finish what we started. That’s not the way we wanted to end our season. Everyone is gonna remember this moment instead of all the good things we’ve done this season. “That’s not we represent at Brunswick High. So, we’ve gotta do a better job with that.” The GHSA will undoubtedly review the incident further. Both schools could face additional suspensions and possible monetary fines following the state’s review. It had already been a frustrating night for the Pirates (9-3), the top seed and champion from Region 1-AAAAA this season. They were shut out for the first time since losing 37-0 to Camden County in 2018. Brunswick entered the game with one of the state’s highest-scoring offenses, averaging 43.75 points per game and the Pirates were gaining more than 550 yards a game. Against the Red Elephants, led by five-star linebacker and Alabama commit Xavier Griffin, the Pirates managed only 105 yards before the game was halted. Gainesville, which has several major-college prospects in its program, checked the Pirates to 75 yards rushing and only 30 passing while intercepting BHS senior quarterback Grant Moore twice in the game. “They took Griffin, and instead of playing him inside at linebacker, they put him on the edge to rush the passer,” Grady said. “He’s incredible. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a player who looks like that. “It was also tough sledding in the trenches tonight, and that’s where the game is won and lost on both offense and defense.” Brunswick’s Josiah Gibbons ran for 50 yards on 11 carries while Nigel Gardner followed with 40 yards on 10 carries. Both junior ballcarriers ran for more than 1,000 yards this season for the Pirates. The Red Elephants, who led 21-0 at halftime, finished with 277 total yards. They ran for 193 yards while getting 84 yards through the air. Nigel Newkirk, a junior with major-college offers, led their ground attack with 88 yards on 14 carries. He scored a pair of touchdowns. Their junior quarterback Kharim Hughley, who is committed to Clemson, was 8-for-15 passing with a short scoring pass. Brunswick started the game with the ball after Gainesville won the toss and deferred to the second half. The Pirates were forced to punt on their first offensive series. Gainesville would drive from its 30-yard line to the Brunswick 37 before the Pirates got the ball back on downs with a stop after the Red Elephants had extended their opening possession with a fake punt and picked up a first down. The Pirates would reach Gainesville’s side of the field on their next series, but on a fourth-and-4 play from the 42, a lofted pass by Moore was intercepted by the Red Elephants at the 16. Gainesville would drive 84 yards in eight plays for the game’s opening score, a 4-yard run by Newkirk for a 7-0 lead with 10:09 now to go in the second quarter. BHS mounted a nice drive on its next series, gashing Gainesville with the run game before also getting a pass interference call against their defense that advanced the ball to their 26. The promising drive would stall out, though. Facing third-and-3 from the 19, Gainesville stopped Heze Kent for no gain as BHS snapped the ball directly to their big tight end from their Pirate Package. Then, when BHS went for it on fourth down, the Red Elephants stopped Gibbons a yard short of the first-down marker to take over on downs. Brunswick questioned the spot. “It looked like he got the first down,” Grady said. Gainesville would then march 83 yards in 11 plays to go on top 14-0 with Newkirk scoring from 9 yards out with 2:10 left before halftime. BHS couldn’t get out of the half without the visitors scoring again, which seemed to be a emotional letdown for the Pirates going into the intermission break. The Pirates had to punt from their own end zone on their next series, and Gainesville returned the kick from the 32 down to the 15. The Red Elephants needed only three plays to score with Hughley tossing a 1-yard pass to Cameron James for a 21-0 cushion after the extra-point kick. The game got away from the Pirates at the outset of the third quarter when Gainesville’s Legend Wilmont returned the second-half kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown and a 28-0 lead. The score quickly went to 35-0 when a long third-down pass by Moore was picked off by Gainesville’s Elijah Watson who returned the interception for a touchdown. The final score by the Red Elephants came with 2:07 left in the third on a 17-yard run by sophomore running back Dwight Lewis that finished off an 11-play, 79-yard drive. Brunswick started its next drive at its own 20-yard line, and that’s when the fight would break out on the field, leading to the decision to call this one off early with the ultimate outcome clearly decided. Gainesville is slated to play at Hughes next week in the state quarterfinals. The Panthers (12-0), who ended the season ranked No. 1, knocked off Lee County 49-31 in a second-round game Friday night. Gainesville and Hughes last played in the Class AAAAAA state championship game in 2022. Hughes won 35-28.