By: Kipp Branch

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

The Brunswick High Pirates traveled to Springfield and got run out of the stadium by Effingham County 45-14.

The Pirates trailed 14-6 at half after surviving three first half turnovers and 10 penalty flags they got boat raced in the third quarter 23-0.

A running clock and a last second TD pass and two-point conversion by the Rebels made the final score of 45-14.

The loss drops the Pirates to 3-5 on the season and 0-2 in region play. The Pirates playoff hopes are on life support after last night’s performance.

Pirate Report Card:

Offense: C. KJ Lee turned the football over on three straight possessions in the first half and was replaced by Anthony Mountain.

Mountain came and provided a spark and led the Pirates on a ten play 80-yard TD drive late in the half by completing an 18-yard TD pass to Kyle Patterson.

Jaylen Trimmings ran hard all night long and the run blocking was good. Pass blocking was average and the receivers had too many drops.

Six holding flags tossed by the same official doomed any chances of momentum as they were timely and killed four nice drives in the ball game.

BHS won the holding call battle with Effingham 6-0 as the Rebels were not flagged for a holding all night long. In the end, BHS could not overcome the turnovers and 14 flags on the night.

Defense: D. This unit kept BHS in the game in the first half but came out flat after halftime. Effingham scored on the first possession of the second half on all running plays and BHS never recovered.

Stopping the run is a huge issue for this defense. Octavius Butler made a few impact plays, but the unit got manhandled in the second half.

Special Teams: F. Special teams were awful in Springfield. A missed extra point, big kickoff return, a big punt return set up a touchdown, a blocked punt for a TD by the Rebels on a one man rush and three two-point conversions converted by Effingham made this easily the worst special teams perform ace of the year.

Coaching: C. The offensive game plan was very good. If it had been executed properly it would have produced a win.

Defensively, BHS can’t stop the run and other than putting 10 in the box I don’t know what you can do. Also, giving up so many two-point conversions on the same look was troubling.

Overall: D. Let’s face it Pirate fans, the Pirates are not very talented on the defensive side of the ball.

Not enough size and intestinal fortitude to stop downhill running football teams. There is not enough consistency on offense at QB and drops by wide receivers kill drives.

The playoffs would be a miracle at this point. Special teams, lack of execution, turnovers, and penalties put a very winnable game out of reach in the third quarter.

Next up is the City Championship game against Glynn Academy.

BHS has lost four straight in the series and Glynn may not throw a pass next week if BHS does not find some answers on defense.

BHS could salvage the season with a big win next week in a series where the unexpected happens a lot.