Kickoff A look at Brunswick High’s first-round game in the Class AAAAA state playoffs: Opponent: Villa Rica When: 7:30 p.m. Friday Where: Glynn County Stadium Radio: 107.7 FM Records: BHS 9-1, No. 1 seed from Region 1-AAAAA; VR, 5-5, No. 4 seed from Region 5-AAAAA. Last week: BHS defeated Bradwell Institute 43-12; Villa Rica did not play. Last meeting/All-time: Teams have never played. Game Preview Brunswick High is set to begin the Class AAAAA state playoffs at home as the Region 1-AAAAA champion. The Pirates secured the region crown two weeks ago when they won at South Effingham, and last week they finished off their unbeaten run through the league schedule with a rout of the Bradwell Institute Tigers in Hinesville. Last week’s game was a makeup game. BHS was originally scheduled to play the Tigers in early October, but the game got postponed in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. This year’s region championship was the third in the last four years for the Pirates. Brunswick is riding a nine-game winning streak heading into the state playoffs. The Pirates, ranked eighth in the state, have not lost since dropping their season opener 51-41 to Camden County at home. The Pirates are making their sixth straight appearance in the playoffs. BHS has won in the first round in four of its last five playoff trips. With a victory Friday over Villa Rica, the Pirates are guaranteed a home game next week in the second round. Friday’s winner faces the Jackson County-Coffee winner in round two. Jackson County is a No. 2 seed while Coffee is a No. 3 seed. The Wildcats missed the playoffs the last two years after reaching the Class AAAAA quarterfinals back in 2021. This season, they won their first three region games before losing three of their last four. Those losses were to the top three seeds from their region for the playoffs. Austin Barron is in his third season as the Villa Rica head coach. He joined the program in 2021 and previously served as defensive coordinator and head strength coach before becoming the head coach. On Thursday, BHS announced its All-Region Team players. Making the first-team offense were quarterback Grant Moore, running back William Heck, receiver Jashawn Towns, receiver Waseem Murray, tight end Heze Kent and offensive linemen Chase Richardson and Kasiyah Charlton. Named to the first-team defense were lineman Lance Brown, linebackers Caleb Butler, Jeremiah Robbins and Kregg Richardson and defensive backs Aviyon Addison and Sehki Ashley. BHS senior linebacker J’Shawn Towns was selected as the Defensive Player of the Year. BHS head coach Garrett Grady was named Coach of the Year. For Villa Rica, sophomore Miles George was recently named one of the Athlete/All-purpose Players of the Year for Region 5-AAAAA. ---- Compiled by Kevin Price for GCS Athletics