Josiah Gibbons
The City Championship
By: Teddy Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
It doesn’t get any better than this!
The City Championship will be on the line this Friday night as the Brunswick High Pirates and the Glynn Academy Red Terrors clash Between the Bricks at Glynn County Stadium.
Most of these young men have been playing with and/or against each other since they were in rec ball, so the winning team will get bragging rights for the next twelve months.
Oh, and don’t forget the playoffs looming large in about a month. The Georgia High School Association will be switching to a power rankings formula to determine playoff seedings, so just finishing in the top four of the region no longer guarantees a team a playoff berth.
Ultimately, the BHS-GA game could have a huge impact on November football.
Coach Byron Slack’s Pirates are currently 2-1 in the region, 3-3 overall, while Coach Rocky Hidalgo’s Red Terrors are 1-2 in the region and 2-4 overall.
Doctor Slack’s Pirates opened the season with three non-region games, losing to Camden County and Grayson, while whupping the Groves Rebels.
In Region 1-6A play so far, BHS has defeated Grovetown and Greenbrier, but then lost to Bradwell Institute.
Glynn’s non-region schedule included losses to Calvary Day and Camden before beating Savannah Christian.
In region contests, the Terrors have a win over Lakeside-Evans, but have losses to Bradwell and Effingham County.
When Brunswick High and Glynn Academy meet on the gridiron, however, records don’t always mean anything. Both Coaches will be pulling out all the stops to try to secure a win. It would not be a surprise to see five or six trick plays in this game.
Both teams have shown they can score points, (BHS over 40 per game, GA over 32), so we may be talking about a shootout at Glynn County Stadium.
The Pirates will need to stop GA’s flexbone offense, led by Max Noonan and Caiden Robinson.
Glynn’s defense has been susceptible to downfield passing, so look for Brunswick quarterback Keygan Walker to take some shots downfield to receivers Waseem Murray and Israel Henry.
The Pirates running game will also be a big factor Friday night. Nigel Gardner is coming off a 363 yard rushing game—a single game school record—against Bradwell, but Glynn’s defense must also contend with another running back in Josiah Gibbons, averaging over eleven yards per carry.
The BHS-GA series dates back to 1968, the year Brunswick High first opened its doors and only had sophomores on its football team. The 1970 squad was the first Pirates team with seniors.
Glynn dominated the early years, but since then, the series has been somewhat streaky. Brunswick currently holds the series lead, winning 42 games to 38 for Glynn. There have been two ties.
If a team wins three years in a row, the City Championship trophy is retired to that school’s trophy case. The Pirates have won the last two years, so with a win Friday night, will retire the current trophy.
After the City Championship game against Glynn, BHS will host South Effingham and Effingham before its regular-season finale at Lakeside-Evans.
Glynn Academy will travel to Greenbrier and South Effingham and then close its regular season at home against Grovetown.
If there is a tie at the top of the standings after region play is completed, the fewest points allowed will determine the top seed, so defensive stops and turnovers will be another key to the City Championship game.
Kickoff is set for 7:30. Brunswick High! Glynn Academy! It doesn’t get any better than this!
Brunswick High Pirates Set Sail On Region Play
By: Teddy Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
After posting a 1-2 non-region record, the Brunswick High Football Pirates kicked off Region 1-6A play on September 18.
First year head coach Dr. Byron Slack’s Pirates kicked off the 2026 campaign at home against the Camden County Wildcats, losing 35-21.
In week two, Dr. Slack’s Pirates hosted the Groves Rebels and walked away with a 63-0 shellacking.
Following a bye week, Brunswick High hosted 7-A powerhouse Grayson. Despite being a huge underdog, the Pirates played the Rams tough, even taking the lead in the third quarter before Grayson eventually prevailed, 44-31, giving BHS their 1-2 non-region record.
Coach Slack’s squad began region play with a four-hour bus trip to the Augusta area to take on the Grovetown Warriors, who were 0-3 on the season. This could have been trap game for the Pirates, as they have sometimes struggled on long road-trip games. It was not, BHS won the game 38-14.
The following Friday (Sept. 25), BHS returns to Glynn County Stadium to host the Greenbrier Wolfpack, another Augusta area school, who is currently 1-2.
On October 2, Coach Slack’s Pirates will travel to Hinesville to clash with the Bradwell Institute Tigers, currently 3-1 in 2026.
Over the years, the Tigers have not fared well against the Pirates, but Bradwell appears to be a much better football team than in recent years.
After their second bye week, Coach Slack’s Pirates will be the home team on October 16 at Glynn County Stadium against the Glynn Academy Red Terrors in the City Championship game. This promises to be a very important region tilt, as well securing local bragging rights for the next twelve months. The Terrors are currently 1-3.
After the City Championship game, the Pirates will host back-to-back games against South Effingham (3-1) and Effingham (2-2). The Mustangs and the Rebels, respectively, will continue a long-standing rivalry against the Pirates.
Brunswick closes out the regular season on November 6 by returning to the Augusta area (another trap game?) to take on Lakeside-Evans.
Senior quarterback Keygan Walker has stepped into the leadership role very comfortably for the Pirates. In the three non-region games, Walker threw for 430 yards and 7 touchdowns.
At an exclusive coach’s show with The Bishop Media Sports Network, Coach Slack lauded Walker’s performance thus far, “and he’ll continue to get better,” Coach Slack added.
Seniors Nigel Gardner and Josiah Gibbons have anchored the running game for the Pirates.
The defense has been anchored by Samir Dobbins, Zay Bennett, Zi’yan Rankin, and Chozen Owens, among several others.
Kicker Braxton Davis has been busy kicking extra points.
Following the conclusion of the regular season, the playoffs get underway using a system called the Post Season Rankings Formula, concocted by the Georgia High School Association.
Unless I’m missing something, this is one of the stupidest ideas I’ve ever heard.
Best I can tell, it works like this: Unless you actually win a region championship, you may or may not qualify for post-season play.
Other than winning a region championship, a team’s eligibility for the playoffs depends on its won-lost record, its opponents’ won-lost record, its opponents’ opponents’ won-loss record, and the wind direction on the Ides of March.
Under the old playoff system, of course, the top four teams in each region qualified for post-season play, regardless of the wind.
At any rate, my prediction is as follows: Dr. Coach Byron Slack’s Pirates run the table in region play, winning the city championship as well as the region championship in his first year at Brunswick High, and then makes a playoff run, getting past the second round for the first time since 1999.
Go Pirates!
Georgia Players Commitments To Georgia Schools
By: Joseph Stuckey
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
As we are less than 100 days away from Early National Signing Day on December 2nd, I thought it would be a good time to examine the recruiting rankings of the 5 FBS teams in the State of Georgia.
To start with, the Georgia Bulldogs sit at number 14 in the country with two 5-stars and eight 4-stars.
Their class is highlighted by the #1 running back in the country, Kemon Spell, and the #1 tight end, Jaxon Dollar.
They also have a local verbal commitment from Abram Eisenhower, who is a consensus 3-star offensive lineman from Lowndes County.
Next are the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, who posted an impressive 9-4 record last season under head coach Brent Key. They currently have the number 26 overall recruiting class, which is headlined by nine 4-star recruits.
They do have local standout offensive lineman Jordan Dillon from Effingham County verbally committed to them; he is a 3-star. Also, 3-star wide receiver Antwan Lockett from Colquitt County is verbally committed to the Yellow Jackets.
Next, I will dive into the three Group of 6 Schools in the state. It is always interesting to see which of these 3 finishes on top each year. I say this because they are all in some of the highest recruited areas in the country.
Georgia Southern is in the 912 area code, which has produced a top-3 overall recruit for the past 2 recruiting cycles. Both Kennesaw State and Georgia State are in the Metro Atlanta area, which produces a top-25 overall recruit basically every year.
First is the Georgia Southern Eagles, who have the highest average recruit rating of the three. They do have a couple of local wide receivers verbally committed to them: 3-star MJ Knight (Calvary Day) and 3-star Billy Crider (Bulloch Academy).
They also have verbal commitments from 3-star tight end Elan Jones (Ware County) and 3-star running back Josiah Gibbons (Brunswick).
Next is fellow Sun Belt school Georgia State, which has the highest-rated overall class of the three schools on both On3 and 247Sports.
Head Coach Dell McGee was able to reel in a verbal commitment from 4-star athlete Justin Murphy, who plays at nearby North Clayton High School.
They also do have a couple of local verbal commitments: 3-star wide receiver Jamarian Mingo (Valdosta) and 3-star running back Donterrius Mincey (Toombs County).
Last but not least is the defending Conference USA Champion, the Kennesaw State Owls.
Right now the Owls are basically tied with Georgia Southern in both overall recruiting class ranking and average recruit rating.
They do have a local verbal commitment from 3-star Braylon Cone (Bulloch Academy), who is the highest-rated defensive lineman in the 912 area code for the 2027 cycle.
There is not much of a surprise with where these teams currently sit in the rankings. If you look at last year’s recruiting cycle rankings, it is very similar to this year’s rankings.
UGA is normally near the top, and Georgia Tech is trying to crack the top 25.
For the G6 schools, they usually finish close together in the rankings, so it will be interesting to see which of the 3 ends up on top this recruiting cycle.
Brunswick High Pirates 2026 Preview
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Brunswick High Pirates had their 2025 season end at the hands of the Gainesville Red Elephants in the second round of the GHSA playoffs.
Last season ended in controversy as the Pirates and Red Elephants had the game called early due to a benches clearing brawl that made national headlines.
Despite the controversy BHS enters the 2026 season coming off of a 9-3 season and a region title.
They also come into 2026 as a team in transition. Gone are record-setting QB Grant Moore and 4-star TE Heze Kent; 2 vital cogs in the Pirates prolific offense from last year that bludgeoned defenses all season long.
Also gone is former Head Coach Garrett Grady who is now coaching in Douglas with the Coffee County Trojans.
Enter Dr. Byron Slack to take over as the Pirates head man. Slack spent several years on the Camden County staff during the championship years and comes over from Cook County after spending 4 seasons as Head Coach with the Hornets.
Slack will make an emphasis on team discipline and bring out the best in the Pirates on defense; an area that has been inconsistent for the Pirates for over a decade.
Despite losing key cogs on offense BHS does return some key playmakers on offense. Most notably running backs Nigel Gardner, Josiah Gibbons and WR Waseem Murray.
Both Gardner and Gibbons rushed for over 1,000 yards and combined for almost 30 touchdowns last season.
Murray was the Pirates best playmaker in open space and was dangerous every time he got the ball in his hands. Murray had 700 all-purpose yards and 5 touchdowns.
At QB the Pirates will either have senior Keegan Walker or junior Eli Overton under center.
BHS will move up from 5A to 6A and play in Region 1-6A with Glynn Academy, Effingham, South Effingham, Bradwell Institute, Grovetown, Greenbriar and Lakeside.
Brunswick will kick off the season on August 21st against Camden ‘Between The Bricks’ at Glynn County Stadium.
The Pirates will take to the road the week after that to take on Groves. BHS gets a bye the following week and then return home in week 4 to take on national power Grayson at Glynn County Stadium.
Region play starts for the Pirates on September 18th against Grovetown up in Augusta.
BHS then hosts Greenbriar and then travels to Hinesville to square off with Bradwell on October 2nd.
Brunswick High will then take a bye to get ready for the City Championship game against the Glynn Academy Red Terrors on October 16. This game will go a long way in determining who will win the region.
Technically the Pirates will be the home team against Terrors and will be the first of three consecutive home games; the other two will be against South Effingham and Effingham.
Brunswick will close the regular season against Lakeside on the road in Augusta.
I am predicting the Pirates will be serious contenders to win the region. In my opinion who ever wins the City Championship Game will also hoist the region championship trophy at season’s end.
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