By: Kipp Branch

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

On a gorgeous night for football the Brunswick High Pirates obliterated the South Effingham Mustangs on their homecoming 43-0 in lovely Guyton, Georgia.

Coming off the heartbreaking loss to Camden County to spoil its own homecoming the week before the Pirate out and raced to a 29-0 halftime lead and never looked back and only a running clock in the 4th quarter kept Brunswick from hanging 50 on the Mustangs last night.

The players going into this game described the Monday and Tuesday practices as two of the most physical practices they have ever been a part off. One player told me that the Monday practice was a real gut check saying that it was one of those deals “where you just don’t know if your body can go any further, but somehow you just keep pushing”.

The Pirates now 3-2 on the season head into a bye week to get ready to embark on the region schedule on October 7th.

What this writer wanted to see were two things going into this game.

1. Fast Start by offense which happened with 29 first half points with a monster 21 point second quarter.
2. Kicking woes improved which happened with Patrick Caceres coming on after earning a spot on the roster after a school wide tryout for a place kicker on Monday. This kid looked good booting the football through the uprights.

Pirate Report Card:

Defense: A+. This unit flat out laid the lumber all night long. Nothing South Effingham tried worked and the speed of the Pirate defense just smothered the Mustang attack.

Sherrod Frazier flies around like a speeding bullet or like he had an S on his chest. Kam Futch and Sean Ward controlled the middle of the field and Jaylen Jackson had a nice interception in the end zone to stop the only red zone threat South Effingham had all night long.

This unit took a lot criticism in 2015 and halfway through the 2016 season is playing at a championship level. Defense travels come playoff time folks. A shut out is an automatic A, but the swagger behind it earns the plus. A lot of ice will be needed in the Mustang training room today.

Offense: A. Night and day difference one week makes. This unit came out on a mission last night, and mission was accomplished.

McMaster had another good game and steamrolled a safety on one of his TD runs. Ben McCloud ran hard between the tackles. Shawn Smith made his presence felt and DJ Whitfield had a nice game catching the football.

The biggest improvement came from the Pirate offensive line which dominated the line of scrimmage from about the 9-minute mark in the first quarter and beyond.

Jamarius Stevens played a very nice football game mixing up the run and throw. This was the kind of effort I wanted to see out of this group, and this great reflects that. We had good looks in practice as the we went #1 offense vs #1 defense all week leading up to this game.

Special Teams: A

This unit impressed me. The new kicker worked. Alonzo Brown blocked a punt, and Jaylen Jackson looked like a beast returning kicks. Brunswick came down on coverage with an attitude and it was just a nice overall effort. South Effingham’s only kick off the night was an onside kick which the Pirates fielded like an all-region shortstop. Awesome effort and kudos to Mr. Caceres who answered the kicker wanted ad in the school newspaper.

Coaching: A. Larry Harold had this team ready to play after a rough week coming off a loss. Coaches thought we could have played better and pointed out some penalties and Coach Harold even said they have ‘a ways to go’ afterwards.

Maybe so but we went on the road and beat a team on their homecoming 43-0. A’s all around. The Shawn Smith package at QB in fourth was nice for other teams to have to prepare for moving forward.

Overall: A. 43-0 win on the road coming off a tough week. Enough said there.

Final Thoughts: Great job and a business trip type approach pack lite, come in, establish yourself early, dominate, hop on bus and come home.

Great effort. Just what the doctor ordered.