Heze Kent
Pirate Blitz
By: Teddy Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Coach Garrett Grady’s Brunswick High Pirates readied themselves for the state playoffs by setting a school record for the most points in a single regular season.
The 43-12 victory over Bradwell Institute on Friday night gave the Pirates 460 points for the season, surpassing the 459 scored during the regular season by the 1999 team.
The ’99 Pirates went on to play for the state championship, losing to Lowndes.
This year’s Pirates averaged 46 points per game, also a school record.
The win over Bradwell earned the Pirates a perfect 8-0 record in Region 1-5A, including, of course, the region championship and a #1 seed in the state playoffs.
After an opening-season 51-41 loss to 6A Camden County, Brunswick High reeled off nine consecutive victories with wins over Wayne; Effingham; Evans; Greenbrier; Glynn Academy; Statesboro; Lakeside; South Effingham; and Bradwell.
Senior running back William Heck is the leading rusher for the Pirates with well over 1200 yards. Heck also has scored nine touchdowns.
Nigel Gardner and Josiah Gibbons—both sophomores—have also contributed heavily to the run game. Gardner has run for some 800 yards, averaging a whopping 15 yards per carry, while Gibbons is closing in on the 600-yard mark. Gardner and Gibbons have run for six and nine touchdowns, respectively.
Junior quarterback Grant Moore has completed over 70% of his passes, totaling more than 1800 yards with18 touchdowns and only 2 interceptions. He will be the All-Everything quarterback for the region and will be in the conversation for some state honors.
Senior Ja’Marious Towns, junior Heze Kent, and sophomore Waseem Murray have been Moore’s favorite targets, all with at least 30 catches, more than 500 yards receiving, and at least five touchdown catches. Senior Jordan Hicks also has double digit receptions for the Pirates.
Brunswick High’s defense hasn’t been too shabby either, allowing only 179 points, with 51 of those coming against 6A Camden—and three of Camden’s touchdowns were on short fields following a BHS fumble and two botched punts.
Senior linebacker J’Shawn Towns is the leading tackler for the Pirates, closing in on 90.
Seniors Caleb Butler and Chris Kimp have also been stalwarts on defense.
Jeremiah Robbins, Kregg Richardson, Lance Brown, and Joshua White—all seniors—have recorded multiple sacks for BHS.
The Pirates ‘Black Flag Defense’ has eight defensive touchdowns: three by Towns; two by junior Aviyon Addison; and one each by seniors Seki Ashley, Zach Miller, and Butler.
Grady’s Pirates will host the Villa Rica Wildcats in the first round of the 5A playoffs on Friday night at Glynn County Stadium.
Villa Rica finished the regular season with four wins and three losses in Region 5-A to earn the #4 seed. Overall, the Wildcats were 5-5.
Villa Rica scored 275 points in the regular season (460 for BHS) and allowed 226 (179 allowed by the Pirates).
If the Pirates get past Villa Rica in the first round, they will also host a second-round game. BHS would take on the winner between Coffee County and Jackson County. If Brunswick High and Coffee both win their first-round games, it would be a battle of top ten teams in the second round.
If Brunswick High gets to the third round of the playoffs, a coin toss would decide home-field advantage unless Brunswick High was matched against a lower seed.
But first things first. The Pirates have to beat Villa Rica in order to worry about a second-round game, much less anything beyond that.
So come on out to Glynn County Stadium on Friday night and holler for the Pirates!
Pirates To Set Sail
By: Teddy Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
As the Brunswick High Pirates get ready to set sail for the 2024 football season, I sat down with Head Coach Garrett Grady for an exclusive interview.
“We’ve had 110-115 guys show up for practice every day,” Coach Grady related. “The players have been working hard, and we’re looking forward to getting back ‘Between the Bricks’.”
Brunswick High is looking to improve on last year’s 7-4 record, which included a second-round playoff appearance.
BHS will be playing in a new classification this fall, which also means a new region, 1 AAAAA.
The Georgia High School Association decided to eliminate the 7-A classification, which moved Brunswick High from 6-A to 5-A, still the second-highest classification.
There are nine teams in Brunswick’s new region: Brunswick High, Bradwell Institute, Effingham, Evans, Glynn Academy, Greenbrier, Lakeside, South Effingham, and Statesboro.
“We’re bringing back in Statesboro, and we’re bringing back in Bradwell,” Coach Grady said. “Grovetown is going out, but Greenbrier is coming in, so we replaced one Augusta school with another.”
The two non-region games will be against Camden and Wayne. Camden will travel to Brunswick to open the season on August 16, while Brunswick will travel ‘Jesup’ the road to Wayne the next week.
“We got a scrimmage against Ware, game 1 against Camden, and game 2 against Wayne,” Coach Grady told me, “and then region games from there on out.”
BHS will have a bye week following the Wayne game, and then, “We’re starting out of the gate with a really tough region opponent in Effingham.”
It’s worth noting that BHS and Effingham have developed a pretty strong rivalry over the past few years, and it will be interesting to see how that game plays out September 6 when the Pirates travel to Rebel Field at Bob Griffith Stadium to take on the Rebels.
The Brunswick High-Glynn Academy City Championship game is slated for September 27 at Glynn County Stadium.
When I asked Coach Grady if Brunswick, Effingham, and Glynn would be the favorites in the region, he agreed.
“I think that’s a fair assessment,” he said. “When Brunswick, Glynn, and Effingham play each other, it’s been for the 1, 2, or 3 seed.”
I also asked Coach Grady about trying to replace players like “Touchdown” Terry Mitchell, River Creel, Devin Smith, and others that graduated.
“Instead of replacing those guys, we’ve got to develop other players,” he said. “We have a lot of talent returning, plus some new faces that could make an immediate impact.”
One returning talent is junior Heze Kent—All-everything from a year ago. “He’s going to have a big year,” Coach Grady predicted. “We can split him out wide, play him at tight end, or put him in the backfield.
“Plus, he’s a leader in the locker room as well. His voice carries, and he echoes what the coaches say. That’s what we want.”
Another returning starter is quarterback Grant Moore, also a junior.
“He’s definitely a voice on offense,” Coach Grady said. “When tough times happen, he can get the guys to rally behind him. He works hard and always does the right thing. He’s the type of leader you want.”
Also returning for the Pirates are Jamarius Towns, Waseem Murray, Jashawn Towns, William Heck, Caleb Butler, Kregg Richardson, Jordan Hicks, Jeremiah Robbins, and others, all adding significant talent and leadership for BHS.
“All of the coaches have been working hard, too,” Coach Grady lauded, praising their dedication.
Mitch Belker returns as Offensive Coordinator for the Pirates, while Thomas Tedder is back as Defensive Coordinator.
It says here the Pirates win the region and make a deep run in the playoffs.
