By Kevin Price For GCS Athletics The Brunswick High Pirates held off Camden County for a 16-10 victory Friday night in a whale of a football game between the two longtime rivals at Glynn County Stadium. The Brunswick defense stopped the Wildcats inside its own 10-yard line late in the game to preserve the Pirates’ lead and lift the team to its second straight win at home to start its first season under new head coach Garrett Grady. Brunswick opened the season last week with a 23-13 win over Andrew Jackson from Jacksonville, Fla. “It was a battle,” Grady said of Friday’s showdown with the Wildcats. “It’s a great day to be a Pirate. Our kids showed up and had each other’s back. It was offense and defense for the first half, then the defense just took over the game We ran the football and played great defense. “Tonight, it was ground-and-pound and it was defense making stops and big plays when we needed them. Once again, I’m proud of these kids and coaches.” The win over Camden was just the second for the Pirates in the last 15 meetings against the Wildcats. Brunswick defeated Camden in Kingsland back in the 2017 season. Prior to that, the Pirates hadn’t beaten the Wildcats since the great 1999 season when they played for the Class AAAA state championship. Friday’s win was also the first for BHS over a Camden team coached by Jeff Herron who won all seven of his games against the Pirates during his first stint with the Wildcats from 2000-12. The Wildcats, coming off a shocking 13-10 loss last Friday in their opening game against Columbia High, threatened to take this one away from the Pirates with a late game-winning drive. They started at their own 37-yard line with just over nine minutes to play and had the ball first-and-goal from the BHS 7 inside the final three minutes. The Wildcats converted on fourth down on the drive and twice on third down along the way. But Brunswick’s defense which features several college prospects stiffened with its collective back against the BHS goal line. Camden’s first-down play gained a yard, and its rushing attempt on second down lost 3 yards back to the 9. Before running their third-and-goal play, the Wildcats called a timeout. Out of the timeout, Brunswick safety Ivan Johnson broke up a pass in the end zone to make it fourth-and-goal. On the next play, BHS senior linebacker Lionel Twitty jumped in the air to knock down a rollout-pass from Camden quarterback Mason Robinson to an open receiver in the end zone to end the scoring threat. Had the Wildcats scored there, all they would have needed was an extra-point to regain a one-point lead with only 1:23 left in the game. “We knew the situation and knew we had to get the stop. I just came through,” Twitty said of his game-saving play. The Pirates led 7-3 at halftime, scoring the game’s opening touchdown after the Wildcats bobbled a punt snap and senior linebacker Devin Smith got on the loose ball for BHS at the Camden 5. The Pirates called senior Jayden Drayton’s number three straight times and the Harvard commit scored from a yard out on third-and-goal to give Brunswick the early lead. Camden got a 35-yard field goal from Gabe Caison early in the second quarter to make the score 7-3 following a BHS turnover deep in its own territory. The Pirates missed a field goal inside the final minute of the opening half, and Camden actually coughed up the ball on its ensuing possession. Brunswick senior defensive lineman Ka’Shawn Thomas, who is committed to Wake Forest, picked up the fumble around the 30 and returned the ball to the 20 for the Pirates. BHS ran two more offensive plays in the remaining seconds, but quarterback J.R. Elkins was sacked on first down and his second-down pass fell incomplete as the first half ended. The Pirates started the third quarter with a nice drive from their own 20 to the Camden 21, running the ball right at the Wildcats’ physical defense. But a possible scoring chance to extend the lead ended when Brunswick lost a fumble. Camden took advantage, mounting a nine-play, 79-yard drive for a go-ahead touchdown run of 37 yards by senior halfback Quan Floyd. With the PAT, the Wildcats led 10-7 with just more than three minutes left in the third quarter. The Pirates would drive 60 yards to the Camden 20 over the remaining time in the quarter and let the final seconds run off the clock as they lined up for a field-goal try to tie the game. Brunswick got a 37-yard field goal from McClain Finneran to deadlock the score at 10-all to open the final stanza. The Pirates needed only one play on their next offensive series to retake the lead. Following a Camden punt to its own 45, the Pirates called Drayton’s number on first down. The senior playmaker took a handoff and darted 45 yards up the middle for a touchdown. “It was a power run, and I made a cut,” Drayton said of his go-ahead scoring run. “The coaches knew I could make something happen with the ball, and that’s what I did. It was a great opportunity for me to make a play, and I did it.” In the Pirates’ first two games, Drayton has already scored four touchdowns. He found the end zone on a punt return and caught a pass for a touchdown in last week’s opener and had the two rushing scores Friday against Camden. The Wildcats blocked the extra-point try following Drayton’s long run Friday night which could have made the difference in the game had Camden scored in those closing moments. “Our defense is lights out,” Drayton said. “We know they’ll make the play. It got a little scary at the end, but they made the play to win the game.” For the game, Drayon led all BHS rushers with 81 yards on seven carries. Ivan Johnson, who starts in the secondary, carried 10 times for 67 yards. Brunswick gained 164 yards on the ground. Through the air, Elkins was 7-for-10 for 76 yards. Camden used several ballcarriers in its customary Wing-T offense which Herron used to win three state titles in his first run with the program. Brunswick prepped against the offense during a summer practice at Jeff Davis which has had recent success with the Wing-T. “I think that prepared us, but this week in practice, our scout team did an outstanding job also,” Grady said. “They’re just as important as our starters. Our coaches prepared these guys really well.” Herron, who saw his Wildcats drop a second straight close one to start the season, lauded Brunswick’s team but was proud of his troops. “They did everything we could possibly ask them to do. We just didn’t finish,” Herron said. “I told them we’re so close. We’re close to knocking down the door and we’re fixing to kick that door down. The kids were heartbroken, and I never saw that last year. That’s something we can build on. “That fourth quarter, that was the old Camden County right there. We took the ball and just kept it and drove down the field. We were one play from scoring with a minute to go, and we are back to the way we used to be. “But we didn’t make that play. We are not there yet, but we are a whole lot closer this Friday than we were last Friday. I’ll tell you that.” The Pirates are off next week and will return to action on Sept. 9 against Bolles in the Under Armor Border Classic at GC Stadium. Camden will be at home next Friday against Glynn Academy (2-0).