Note: The story below was written for GCS Athletics following last year's City Championship Game between Brunswick High and Glynn Academy. The Brunswick High Pirates kept the scoreboard operator busy Friday night as they rolled to a 55-21 victory over Glynn Academy in the City Championship Game at Glynn County Stadium. The 55 points scored by the Pirates were the most by a BHS team in the long history of the Glynn-Brunswick series which dates back to 1968 and now includes 79 games between the local rivals. Brunswick’s previous high was 46 back in the 2008 game when the Pirates toppled the Red Terrors 46-26. The most points scored by either side in the rivalry remains the 56 posted by the Terrors back in the second game between the teams in the 1973 season when Glynn blanked BHS 56-0 at old Lanier Field. Friday’s victory by the Pirates (5-0) was their third in a row over the Terrors and allows them to retire the current city championship trophy for good per series tradition. BHS now has 40 wins to Glynn’s 37. There have been two ties in the history of the series. Glynn (2-3) had won six in a row over the Pirates before dropping the last three in the matchup. Brunswick last got to keep a city crown back in 2008 when it won a third straight game over the Terrors. The Pirates went on to win the next two as well for five consecutive wins in the series before Glynn stopped the streak the following season with a 34-0 blanking of BHS. The Pirates matched that 34-point margin of victory Friday. Their last two victories were 17-14 in overtime and 24-21 with a late touchdown for a come-from-behind win in the 2020 game. Glynn’s last two victories in the series in 2019 and 2018 were by 3 and 5 points, respectively. Also, the win by the Pirates was the team’s 18th in a row in the regular-season. BHS won the final three games on its slate in the 2020 season before winning all 10 regular-season games last year and now has won its first five games this season. Friday’s game was the Region 2-AAAAAA opener for both teams. The Pirates, of course, are looking for back-to-back region crowns. The loss was the third straight for the Terrors who opened the 2022 schedule with an overtime win at Statesboro and a home victory over McIntosh County Academy. Friday’s game was definitely a breakout-performance offensively for the Pirates who lit up the big stadium scoreboard with close to 9,000 fans watching from the stands. They did score 49 points last week against Islands, but the Sharks were 0-5 on the season after losing that game and clearly were no match for Brunswick which was obviously more physically gifted. The Pirates finished with 471 yards against the Terrors including 281 yards rushing and 190 passing. Junior quarterback J.R. Elkins, who was making his first start in the rivalry, had his best game to date on the varsity level as he completed 11 of 17 passes for all of Brunswick’s passing yards while throwing for two touchdowns. Elkins was named the Glynn County Sports Hall of Fame Player of the Game and also received the Farm Bureau Insurance Game MVP Award during the postgame awards presentation. “I had great preparation coming into this game,” Elkins said. “We were just clicking. We came through in practice, were doing everything right and just came out here and dominated.” Six different BHS players carried the ball in the win including Elkins. A pair of sophomores led the ground attack for the Pirates as Jamarius Towns carried 8 times for 140 yards and a touchdown while fellow sophomore William Heck ran 10 times for 85 yards and two scores. Towns was presented the Farm Bureau Offensive Player of the Game honor. “It was by far J.R’s best game,” said first-year BHS head coach Garrett Grady. “There are still things he can improve on, but he was poised in the pocket and made a lot of good throws tonight. “Offensively, the ball was well-distributed among all our backs and our receivers. I think that’s the most yards we’ve put up this year.” The Terrors did score 21 points against a rugged Brunswick defense which has been impressive through the early weeks of the season. Brunswick actually entered the game leading Class AAAAAA in points allowed per game with a 6.5 average. The most points the Pirates had given up in a single game was 13 to Andrew Jackson (Fla.) in their 23-13 win in the season opener. BHS only gave up 10 to Camden County the next week and 3 to Bolles in Game 3 before shutting out Islands last week. Still, Glynn managed just 35 net yards rushing for the night and 192 passing to finish with 227 total yards from scrimmage. Brunswick’s defensive front was active again, especially seniors Ka’Shawn Thomas and Jordan Jimmerson, along with linebacker Devin Smith who recovered a fumble and made plays behind the line of scrimmage. “Ka’Shawn is disruptive and wreaks havoc in the backfield,” Grady said. “He takes on double-teams, puts on pressure up the middle. I know he made a big stop one time on second or third down deep in our territory as well.” The Terrors scored their first touchdown on a double-pass. Their second score came off a long pass that was tipped in the air and caught by a GA player who raced into the end zone with ball in hand and their third touchdown came off a hook-and-ladder in a short-field situation following a Brunswick turnover. Speaking of turnovers, they continue to plague Glynn. The Terrors committed three fumbles in their last game two weeks ago in the Border Classic against Creekside which turned all three takeaways into touchdowns in a 21-20 win in a game played in a driving rain and nasty conditions. An early fumble by Glynn was returned by the Pirates for a touchdown Friday night and a 14-0 lead, and the Terrors lost several more fumbles in the game. Brunswick took the opening kick after Glynn won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. The Pirates promptly drove 80 yards for a touchdown in eight plays. Senior slot receiver Jayden Drayton scored on a 5-yard run less than two minutes in and McClain Finneran added the extra-point kick for quick 7-0 lead. The Terrors faced third-and-6 from their own 28 on their first possession. They completed a short pass, but a fumble was was picked up by Taivion Gadson and returned 22 yards for a touchdown and 14-0 lead for the Pirates not even four minutes into the contest. Glynn responded on its next offensive series. On their third snap, senior quarterback Tyler Devlin threw to Jayden Ellis just behind the left side of the line. Ellis looked downfield and saw running back Hank Noonan wide open in the middle of the field, tossing him the ball for an easy pitch and catch and a 61-yard score that got GA back within 14-7 following Kody Arnold’s point-after kick. The Pirates marched deep inside Glynn territory the next time they had the ball. But after going backward due to penalties, they settled for a 30-yard field goal attempt that was off the mark, leaving the score as it was late in the opening quarter. Early in period two, BHS scored its third touchdown with a 55-yard drive. On the fifth play of the series, Elkins delivered a short pass to Heck out of the backfield, and the sophomore running back shook off potential tacklers to turn the pass into a 30-yard scoring play and ultimately a 21-7 advantage for his team with just more than eight minutes left in the opening half. A second Glynn fumble gave Brunswick good field position late in the half, and the Pirates quickly capitalized with Elkins throwing to the end zone and completing a 55-yard scoring strike to Kevin Thomas on the first snap. The PAT by Finneran made it 28-7 and that would be the score at halftime. The game actually got interesting as soon as the second half started. The Terrors got the ball to begin the third, and after a rushing play lost two yards on first down, Glynn threw a deep ball. The pass from Devlin was intended for David Prince who appeared to get a hand on the ball while tipping it into the air. Glynn’s Ryan Scheuneman, who was in the area along with several BHS defenders, caught the ball facing the end zone and paraded down the GA sideline for what would be a crazy 62-yard scoring play that cut the Terrors’ deficit to 28-14 after the extra-point. And then, just as Glynn did to start the game, the Pirates committed a fumble on their opening series of the second half when Elkins lost the ball scrambling out of the pocket. His fumble was recovered by Glynn’s Cab Cabness at the BHS 27. The Terrors quickly turned the Brunswick miscue into a touchdown when Devlin delivered a pass to Prince who then lateraled the ball to Peacock who high-stepped into the end zone along the GA sideline to complete a 27-yard scoring play that suddenly blinked the scoreboard to 28-21 less than four minutes into the third frame. At this point, it was starting to feel like it might be 2015 all over again for Glynn. The Terrors couldn’t stop Brunswick’s big-play abilities, though. Following Arnold’s kick into the end zone, BHS went on offense at its own 20 and called for Towns to get the ball on first down. The sophomore back, playing in just his third game since returning from an injury that ended his freshman season prematurely, dashed 69 yards down the home sideline to the Glynn 11. His huge run led to a 2-yard TD carry by Ivan Johnson three plays later, and Brunswick was back up 35-21 midway through the third. It was all Brunswick from there. A low punt snap and subsequent failed run for a first down by the Terrors gave BHS the ball at the Glynn 27 moments later. Again, the Pirates called for a first-down carry by Towns, and this time, he took the handoff in for a score, racing around left end and easily out-running the defense to the left corner for his touchdown and a 42-21 cushion. A third Glynn fumble before the end of the third stanza gave BHS the ball at the GA 32, and the Pirates covered that distance in six plays to reach 48 points on a 15-yard touchdown run by Heck. The Terrors blocked the extra-point try. The Pirates punctuated their win in the fourth with one last touchdown following another lost fumble by the Terrors at their own 33. Heck ripped off a 30 yard run before Terry Mitchell carried the ball across the goal stripe from a yard away on third-and-goal. Finneran added the extra-point to make for the final score with 2:14 to play. “Our offense played the best it has all year,” said Brunswick’s big nose man Thomas who is committed to Wake Forest. “We were trying to blow them out. We should have never given up 21. That kinda hurt a little bit. “The offense was doing its job. We had to step up as a defense. We had to get everyone to come together and lock in.” The Pirates will travel for the first time this season next week when they hit the road for a league game Friday at Grovetown. The Terrors will try to end their slide as they take on Effingham in a league game at home next Friday night. --- Story written following last year's game by Kevin Price for GCS Athletics