By Kevin Price For GCS Athletics The Brunswick High Pirates picked up their third straight win to start the season Friday night, outlasting Bolles 20-3 in the inaugural Border Classic taking place at Glynn County Stadium. The Bulldogs (2-1) led by only 3-0 at halftime in the obvious defensive struggle that unfolded between the bricks in a matchup that had drawn attention ever since the official announcement this past spring regarding the high-school football showcase involving Southeast Georgia and Northeast Florida schools. But with the Pirates playing good complementary football in the second half, Brunswick finished the night scoring the final 20 points to close out its 15th consecutive regular-season win dating back to the 2020 season. Brunswick went 10-0 last fall in the regular season as it won a region championship before advancing to the second round of the state playoffs in Class AAAAAA. This latest victory came against a Bolles program which has a rich history that includes 11 state championships. The Bulldogs reached Florida’s Class AA semifinals last season after playing for the state championship the two previous years. “This was the main event, a Friday night,” said first-year BHS head coach Garrett Grady. “First off, hats off to Bolles and Coach (Matthew) Toblin and their team. You’re talking about someone who doesn’t make a lot of mistakes and capitalizes on our mistakes. They’re always a powerhouse, and to go up against a program like that and come out successful, I think it says a lot about our kids and our coaches. I’m proud of them, and the work they put in this week.” The Brunswick win gave both Georgia and Florida two wins apiece going into Saturday’s final three games at the local stadium in the first year of this new annual event. On Thursday, McIntosh County Academy won the opening game for the Peach State over West Nassau, but Creekside put Florida in the win column when it got past Glynn Academy 21-20 in driving rain late Thursday night. The opening game Friday was won by University Christian which prevailed by a surprising 33-0 score over Charlton County. The Christians and Indians played through off-and-on rain in their late-afternoon contest. The skies cleared and the rain never returned during the nightcap between Brunswick and Bolles which came in ranked No. 7 in its classification by MaxPreps. Bolles grabbed the early lead Friday when Matthew Berry kicked a 39-yard field goal as time expired in the first quarter. The Bulldogs had a chance to score first earlier in the opening period, but a drive that started at their own 35-yard line ended for the Bulldogs when Brunswick’s Ivan Johnson picked off a pass in his own end zone to stop the Bolles’ scoring threat. BHS threatened to score after it gained possession as the Pirates drove inside the Bolles 20, but after lost-yardage plays, a possible touchdown pass was knocked away at the goal line by senior defensive back Kavon Miller to turn back the Pirates. After halftime, Brunswick got the ball first as it won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. The Pirates went three-and-out to start the third quarter, but the BHS defense would kick-start the Pirates with its second interception of the ballgame. Taivon Gadson stepped in front of a Bolles pass attempt at the Bulldogs 39 and paraded along the home sideline before getting stopped just short of the goal line. The Pirates would go in front when Terry Mitchell scored from the 1 for the Pirates after taking a direct snap. McClain Finneran connected on the extra-point kick to make it 7-3. With the Pirates taking that lead into the fourth quarter, the Brunswick defense came up with a big stop at the outset of the quarter. Bolles had the ball fourth-and-3 on the BHS 30 when Brunswick linebacker Devin Smith sacked Bulldogs’ quarterback DJ Moore to force the turnover on downs. The Brunswick offense proceeded to make its most impressive drive of the night as it went 68 yards to score its second touchdown on a 7-yard run by William Heck. Mitchell started the drive with a 27-yard run into Bolles territory. Jamarius Towns, a sophomore running back playing for the first time this season after returning from a season-ending injury last year, had back-to-back carries that covered a combined 15 yards. Brunswick faced third-and-8 from the 24, when junior quarterback J.R. Elkins delivered a strike over the middle to Mitchell for a 16-yard gain which put the Pirates first-and-goal on the Bolles 8. Brunswick’s next play was a Drayton run to the 2, and after a procedure penalty on BHS put the Pirates back on the 7, they dialed up a play-call that led to an easy score. Drayton took a direct snap, but instead of keeping the ball, he handed off to Heck who was moving right to left across the formation and scored untouched from 7 yards away. The PAT blinked the scoreboard to 14-3 with less than eight minutes to go. The BHS defense wasn’t done setting up touchdowns for the Pirates, however. Senior defensive back Keon Leggett came up with the Pirates’ third interception of the game late in the fourth quarter inside the red zone and returned the ball out near midfield. The Pirates quickly got a 44-yard run by Drayton to the goal line, and then Brunswick called his number again for a 1-yard scoring run which gave the senior standout five touchdowns in three games. Drayton ended up leading a balanced BHS rushing attack with 54 yards on five carries. Towns added 51 yards on eight rushes, Johnson gained 31 yards on five carries and Mitchell added 28 yards on four attempts. Elkins finished 7-for-15 passing for 47 yards. The BHS defense kept Bolles’ sophomore running back Emmett Grzebin to 54 yards on 19 carries. “These guys are making play after play,” Brunswick’s Grady said about his defense. “They’re really paying attention to their coaches and being coachable.They really played good against the run tonight. Their offensive line, that’s a big offensive line. For our defensive line to go up against that challenge, it shows we were tested. I’m just really proud of those guys.” The Pirates will be back at GC Stadium next Friday to take on Islands in their final non-region game of the season.